Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Canal Capital Management LLC

Canal Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 92,724 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 12,992 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises about 2.6% of Canal Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Canal Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $15,987,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 41,685 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,187,000 after buying an additional 19,930 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 158,496 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $27,328,000 after purchasing an additional 5,144 shares in the last quarter. Natixis increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 111.5% in the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 53,310 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $9,192,000 after purchasing an additional 28,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 222,907 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,434,000 after purchasing an additional 3,779 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.7 %

BX stock opened at $130.26 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $145.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.95. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group raised shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.72.

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.