Lazard Asset Management LLC Purchases 919,773 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 31.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,803,344 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 919,773 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up approximately 0.8% of Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.52% of Blackstone worth $568,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the first quarter worth $25,000. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.9%

BX stock opened at $151.13 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $192.17. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $150.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $158.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 22.30%. Equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a $1.29 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 147.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.69, for a total value of $19,852,970.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 695,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $122,237,547.33. This trade represents a 13.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 2,538,071 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.61 per share, for a total transaction of $64,999,998.31. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 7,506,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $192,234,012.49. This trade represents a 51.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have purchased 2,950,751 shares of company stock valued at $79,050,138 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $173.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $166.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $175.00 price target for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.84.

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.