CenterBook Partners LP Reduces Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

CenterBook Partners LP decreased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 38.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,884 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 10,587 shares during the quarter. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,885,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth $27,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 384,468 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.01 per share, with a total value of $10,000,012.68. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 16,525,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $429,818,293.17. This represents a 2.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,610. This trade represents a 99.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $166.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. HSBC lowered their target price on Blackstone from $178.00 to $174.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $195.00 price objective on Blackstone in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.76.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of BX opened at $133.02 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $98.23 billion, a PE ratio of 34.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.76. The business’s 50 day moving average is $148.74 and its 200 day moving average is $157.14.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.21. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The business had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.69 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $1.49 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $5.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 153.61%.

Blackstone Company 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.