Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 6,844 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 226,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,844 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $34,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 431,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $53,455,000 after buying an additional 7,692 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 2,072.0% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 36,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,802,000 after buying an additional 34,872 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $614,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the period. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,073,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at about $65,050,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 price target on the stock. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.17.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock traded up $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $151.92. The stock had a trading volume of 2,073,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,449,274. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.39. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.59 and a 52 week high of $161.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 115.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.