PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,169,526 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 36,343 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned 0.16% of Blackstone worth $179,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Blackstone by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,374 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 13,926 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,132,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.1% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 5,743 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $879,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $184.87 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $163.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $141.27. The stock has a market cap of $133.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.53, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.49. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.39 and a 12-month high of $186.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. As a group, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % 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, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.