Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Insider Sells $3,461,750.00 in Stock

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $139.41 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $136.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $162.18. The firm has a market cap of $101.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.40, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.82.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,997,581 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,504,702,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102,949 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,341,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,637,266,000 after purchasing an additional 444,887 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Blackstone by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,016,046 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,209,707,000 after purchasing an additional 681,512 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Blackstone by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,987,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,032,400,000 after purchasing an additional 371,677 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $974,448,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% 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.