Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Bought by Versant Capital Management Inc

Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,586 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lantz Financial LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 2,762 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Blackstone by 7.9% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 16,823 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,083,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 4,609 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 37,284 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,483 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 18.6% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,394 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $420,000 after buying an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $188.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.00.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.8 %

BX opened at $173.75 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.88 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $180.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.48. The firm has a market cap of $125.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.21%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.