Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Has $2.52 Million Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,485 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,054 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth $27,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter worth $27,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $180.88 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $161.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.34. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.39 and a 12-month high of $184.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.49. 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 (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. 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 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.21%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s 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. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on BX. Citigroup lifted their target price on Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays lifted their target price on Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.63.

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.