Comerica Bank Has $28.89 Million Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Comerica Bank reduced its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 219,877 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 6,117 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $28,885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BX. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 15,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,003,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 63.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,684 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 55,256 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,234,000 after acquiring an additional 3,183 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in Blackstone by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 5,856 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 30,499 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,993,000 after buying an additional 2,278 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 219 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 219 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $119.48 per share, for a total transaction of $26,166.12. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph Baratta 4,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The disclosure for this trade can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX stock traded down $5.25 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $136.90. 1,939,339 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,532,762. The stock has a market cap of $97.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.72, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.50. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.59 and a 52-week high of $145.16. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $126.68 and its 200 day moving average is $125.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The business’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.90%.

Blackstone Company 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.