Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by KPP Advisory Services LLC

KPP Advisory Services LLC cut its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,828 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&G Plc purchased a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter worth approximately $7,922,000. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter worth approximately $252,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 25.4% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,885 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $510,000 after buying an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter valued at about $353,000. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 15.0% in the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 30,024 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,944,000 after acquiring an additional 3,926 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays boosted their price target on Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.63.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Blackstone stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $181.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,893,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,417,253. The company has a market capitalization of $130.98 billion, a PE ratio of 62.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.49. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $102.79 and a 12 month high of $184.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $161.40 and a 200 day moving average of $140.02.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 118.21%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were 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 directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, 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 owned by insiders.

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.