Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Short Interest Down 14.6% in January

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,279,700 shares, a drop of 14.6% from the December 31st total of 15,550,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,308,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE BX traded down $0.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $176.92. 3,006,940 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,629,713. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $180.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $162.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $127.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.80, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.53. Blackstone has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. Research analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $1.44 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BX. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,024 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $694,000 after buying an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $526,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 894,657 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $154,257,000 after acquiring an additional 19,800 shares during the period. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 18,902 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,259,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,018 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BX. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays cut their price objective on Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen equities 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.13.

About Blackstone

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.