QRG Capital Management Inc. Trims Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

QRG Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 108,803 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 22,602 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $18,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 519,669.1% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 70,132,441 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,490,411,000 after purchasing an additional 70,118,948 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,394,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,796 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,542,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,462,706,000 after purchasing an additional 227,416 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $1,071,348,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,532,941 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $678,037,000 after acquiring an additional 202,245 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX opened at $163.67 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $151.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $161.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $120.86 billion, a PE ratio of 46.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.29. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 22.30%. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.02 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 147.43%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director James Breyer acquired 13,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $143.86 per share, with a total value of $1,999,654.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 68,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,912,817.16. The trade was a 25.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $146.92 per share, with a total value of $47,602.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 39,077 shares in the company, valued at $5,741,192.84. This trade represents a 0.84% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought a total of 797,148 shares of company stock worth $24,050,153 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $197.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, HSBC dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $179.00 to $178.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.25.

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.