Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Short Interest Up 27.8% in February

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 16,632,380 shares, an increase of 27.8% from the February 12th total of 13,014,635 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 10,432,101 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 10,432,101 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $179.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Blackstone from $166.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays lowered their price target on Blackstone from $164.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, January 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 1,146,789 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.16 per share, with a total value of $30,000,000.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 16,716,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $437,297,073.84. This represents a 7.37% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $1,275,747,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Blackstone by 99.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $983,690,000 after acquiring an additional 3,178,133 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,394,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494,796 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 85.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,709,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $417,620,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249,269 shares during the period. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 16,035.1% during the third quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $194,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,197 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $107.09. 7,780,496 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,937,868. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $149.83. The company has a market capitalization of $79.48 billion, a PE ratio of 27.60, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Blackstone has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.17% and a net margin of 20.89%.Blackstone’s revenue was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.69 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $1.49 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.