Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio decreased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 216,078 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 7,913 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $28,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 763.0% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Family CFO Inc bought a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Blackstone in a report on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $118.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $115.00 to $128.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Blackstone from $120.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 232 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $127.08 per share, with a total value of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at $4,349,313. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of BX stock opened at $121.18 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.92 and a 12 month high of $133.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is $126.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.50. The company has a market cap of $86.60 billion, a PE ratio of 66.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The asset manager reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.16. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 17.34%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 5th were given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 205.46%.

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.