Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 15,461 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 43.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,079 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 15,461 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,095,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Family CFO Inc bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. HSBC cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $173.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, April 24th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Argus reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.95.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $123.64 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.17. The firm has a market cap of $91.76 billion, a PE ratio of 31.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.63. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 118.67%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total value of $26,246,039.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,670.32. This trade represents a 99.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 9,103,660 shares of company stock valued at $45,982,920 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.