Blackstone Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:BX)

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 20,972 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 41% compared to the average volume of 14,886 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Blackstone from $176.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Evercore lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $185.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 385,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.96 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,999.68. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 16,332,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $424,001,642.68. The trade was a 2.42% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider directly owned 2,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,610. This trade represents a 99.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Family CFO Inc bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $7.21 on Thursday, reaching $125.69. 4,709,976 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,657,203. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The business’s 50-day moving average is $148.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $157.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.39, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.17% and a net margin of 20.89%.The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a $1.49 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $5.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 153.61%.

About Blackstone

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.