Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt reduced its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 18.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,286 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter worth $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 86.2% in the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $127.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE BX traded down $2.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $128.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,306,145 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,528,885. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.10 billion, a PE ratio of 46.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.50. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $88.59 and a twelve month high of $145.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $128.11 and its 200-day moving average is $126.12.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.90%.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.