Empower Advisory Group LLC Acquires 1,238 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 55.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,469 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $181.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $130.83 billion, a PE ratio of 62.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.49. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $159.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.31. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.59 and a 52-week high of $184.34.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on BX. Barclays increased their price objective on Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.63.

Blackstone Company 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.