Blackstone Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:BX)

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 23,576 put options on the company. This is an increase of 33% compared to the average daily volume of 17,729 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.94.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $142.23 on Wednesday. Blackstone has a 52 week low of $88.59 and a 52 week high of $145.16. The company has a market capitalization of $102.42 billion, a PE ratio of 50.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s fifty day moving average is $134.95 and its 200-day moving average is $127.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.90%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Moseley Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Moseley Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,239 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,391,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the second quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 13,840 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,713,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 13,615 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 23.7% in the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 439 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. increased its stake in Blackstone by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 6,672 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $826,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.