Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 909,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 51,897 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $139,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter worth $27,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $37,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $188.00 to $195.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % 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

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $170.84 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $178.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $151.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $123.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.71, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.88 and a 12 month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a $0.86 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. Blackstone’s 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.