Strs Ohio Trims Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Strs Ohio decreased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 197,542 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 6,072 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $33,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,394,670,000 after buying an additional 1,494,796 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,542,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,462,706,000 after acquiring an additional 227,416 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,071,348,000. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,532,941 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $678,037,000 after purchasing an additional 202,245 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Blackstone by 0.9% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,200,194 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $628,265,000 after purchasing an additional 37,327 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $150.47 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The company has a 50 day moving average of $152.31 and a 200 day moving average of $161.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $111.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 22.30%. The company’s revenue was down 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.02 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 324 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $146.92 per share, with a total value of $47,602.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 39,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,741,192.84. This trade represents a 0.84% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,610. The trade was a 99.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders purchased 797,148 shares of company stock valued at $24,050,153 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $205.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $177.25.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.