Live Oak Investment Partners Buys Shares of 6,512 Blackstone Inc. $BX

Live Oak Investment Partners purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,512 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,113,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Family CFO Inc acquired a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on BX. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Blackstone from $205.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Blackstone from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James Breyer purchased 13,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $143.86 per share, for a total transaction of $1,999,654.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 68,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,912,817.16. This trade represents a 25.27% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 324 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $146.92 per share, with a total value of $47,602.08. Following the acquisition, the director owned 39,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,741,192.84. This represents a 0.84% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 797,148 shares of company stock valued at $24,050,153. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.8%

BX stock opened at $163.67 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $151.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $161.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.76, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 22.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.02 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a $1.29 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 147.43%.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.