Insider Selling: Blackstone (NYSE:BX) CAO Sells $1,379,685.00 in Stock

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total transaction of $1,379,685.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,359,783.04. This trade represents a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Blackstone Trading Down 3.6%

NYSE:BX opened at $143.94 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $190.09. The business’s 50-day moving average is $126.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.04 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 115.44%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Valtrion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $450,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $3,465,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $221,478,000. EFG International AG acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,397,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $15,709,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Citizens Jmp decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Argus boosted their price target on Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.95.

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.