Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,164 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,689 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Blackstone were worth $7,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BX. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX opened at $181.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $130.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.32, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.49. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.79 and a 52 week high of $184.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $161.40 and a 200-day moving average of $140.02.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were given a $0.86 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 118.21%.

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.