Shum Financial Group Inc. Invests $635,000 in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Shum Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 3,719 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $635,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 197.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC now owns 42,892 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,328,000 after acquiring an additional 28,448 shares during the last quarter. Security National Bank boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.4% during the third quarter. Security National Bank now owns 50,235 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,583,000 after buying an additional 1,636 shares during the period. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.3% during the third quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC now owns 287,947 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $49,196,000 after buying an additional 9,073 shares during the last quarter. Marietta Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Marietta Wealth Management LLC now owns 58,667 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 98.4% in the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,562 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 3,254 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $173.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $197.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Blackstone from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 27th. HSBC reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $179.00 to $178.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.95.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 324 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $146.92 per share, for a total transaction of $47,602.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 39,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,741,192.84. This trade represents a 0.84% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 2,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,610. This trade represents a 99.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have purchased a total of 797,148 shares of company stock worth $24,050,153 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE BX opened at $154.72 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $148.79 and a 200 day moving average of $160.06. The company has a market capitalization of $114.25 billion, a PE ratio of 44.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 20.56%. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 147.43%.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.