Sierra Capital LLC Purchases 16,337 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Sierra Capital LLC increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 93.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,729 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,337 shares during the quarter. Sierra Capital LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,165,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Blackstone by 2.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,442,227,000 after buying an additional 1,290,324 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 7.5% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,766,875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546,886 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 12,192.7% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $908,797,000 after acquiring an additional 7,281,128 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,266,207 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $775,758,000 after acquiring an additional 141,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 0.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,670,645 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $613,581,000 after purchasing an additional 21,450 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.38.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE BX traded down $3.00 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $167.77. 1,278,243 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,441,088. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $147.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $133.63. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.59 and a 12 month high of $175.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.55%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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. In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.