Vertex Planning Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 2,210 Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Vertex Planning Partners LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,210 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 57.8% in the third quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,013 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $921,000 after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 58.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 6,734 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in Blackstone by 6.8% during the third quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,485 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,524,000 after buying an additional 1,054 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Capital City Trust Co. FL boosted its position in Blackstone by 5.1% during the third quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 19,066 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,920,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BX. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.63.

Insider Activity

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

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $183.05 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $132.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $104.39 and a 52 week high of $184.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $162.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.80.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 118.21%.

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.