Valued Retirements Inc. Makes New $553,000 Investment in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Valued Retirements Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,611 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $553,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised 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 period. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $32,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $185.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $133.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $173.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.64. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $112.09 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen raised 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut shares of Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.25.

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.