Argent Capital Management LLC Has $87.86 Million Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Argent Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 573,732 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 10,946 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises 2.4% of Argent Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Argent Capital Management LLC owned about 0.08% of Blackstone worth $87,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 12,192.7% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $908,797,000 after purchasing an additional 7,281,128 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 15,357.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 4,173,971 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 7.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 19,048.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,883,409 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $247,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,873,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Blackstone by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,442,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290,324 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.38.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX traded up $2.38 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $169.30. The stock had a trading volume of 1,075,833 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,436,525. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $149.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.15. The company has a market capitalization of $120.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.59 and a fifty-two week high of $175.94.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.55%.

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.