Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Buys New Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,248 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $804,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BX. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Blackstone from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. This trade represents 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 insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $149.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.81, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company’s 50-day moving average is $142.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.54. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.59 and a 1-year high of $161.25.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.90%.

About Blackstone

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.