Candriam S.C.A. Sells 42,264 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Candriam S.C.A. decreased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 90.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,615 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 42,264 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth $221,478,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth about $8,667,000. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 82.5% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 23,206 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after buying an additional 10,489 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 5.1% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 245,370 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,873,000 after buying an additional 11,983 shares during the period. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the third quarter worth about $15,132,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $122.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.71. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $165.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $119.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.06. The stock has a market cap of $91.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.52.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.27 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 22.11% and a return on equity of 23.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. Analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 2nd were paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 2nd. This is a negative change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.56%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 3,767,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total value of $11,077,261.44. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,392.80. The trade was a 99.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone purchased 272,642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $7,126,861.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,704,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,533,512.66. This represents a 3.23% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,992,776 shares of company stock worth $25,507,509. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $122.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $128.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.57.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc. is a global alternative asset manager that invests on behalf of institutional and individual investors. Its businesses span private equity, real estate, credit and insurance, infrastructure, and multi-asset investing, with strategies that include private funds and investment products for a range of clients. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson, the firm initially focused on mergers and acquisitions advisory work before expanding into investment management.