Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,357,529 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,394 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.19% of Blackstone worth $211,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sather Financial Group Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 202.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 4,050 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $201,000. Aljian Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,951,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 2,185.4% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,901,000 after acquiring an additional 18,117 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.2% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,169,526 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $179,089,000 after purchasing an additional 36,343 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $188.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Thursday. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm’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 owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $188.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.75, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $176.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.35. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.88 and a twelve month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The business 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 research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors 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 1.83%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 118.21%.

About Blackstone

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.