Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Takes $213,000 Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,238 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 15,357.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,201,150 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,433,220,000 after purchasing an additional 4,173,971 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Blackstone by 213.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,375,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $170,345,000 after acquiring an additional 937,084 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 468.4% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,107,547 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $137,114,000 after purchasing an additional 912,685 shares during the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth about $67,472,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Blackstone by 7,917.6% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 400,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $49,520,000 after purchasing an additional 395,011 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Up 3.4 %

NYSE BX opened at $175.12 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.59. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $114.88 and a one year high of $200.96. The firm has a market cap of $126.44 billion, a PE ratio of 60.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.