Blueshift Asset Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 482 shares during the quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup upped their price target on Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $191.64 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $105.51 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company has a market capitalization of $138.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50-day moving average of $167.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $143.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.21%.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.