Country Trust Bank Grows Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Country Trust Bank grew its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 192,525 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,250 shares during the period. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $33,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $217,000. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 138,881 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $23,946,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $4,239,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $129,000. Finally, Lewis Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 4,992 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $861,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $177.78 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.82 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $161.95. The firm has a market cap of $128.35 billion, a PE ratio of 61.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. Analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays cut their target price on Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen investment 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 a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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.