Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Means Investment CO. Inc.

Means Investment CO. Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 21,034 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 84 shares during the quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 431,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $53,455,000 after buying an additional 7,692 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2,072.0% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 36,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,802,000 after purchasing an additional 34,872 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter worth about $65,050,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 936.2% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,958 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 5,383 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The trade was a 0.00 % 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler downgraded Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.41.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.5 %

BX stock opened at $172.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $123.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.90, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $88.59 and a twelve month high of $175.94.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 115.90%.

Blackstone 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.