Rathbones Group PLC Sells 15,579 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Rathbones Group PLC trimmed its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 33.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,679 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 15,579 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on BX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.78.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $151.19 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $88.59 and a one year high of $151.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.42, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $136.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.34.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.90%.

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.