Sigma Planning Corp Sells 468 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Sigma Planning Corp cut its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,699 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 468 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,442,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290,324 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,766,875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546,886 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its position in Blackstone by 12,192.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $908,797,000 after buying an additional 7,281,128 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Blackstone by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,266,207 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $775,758,000 after purchasing an additional 141,616 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,670,645 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $613,581,000 after acquiring an additional 21,450 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value 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 $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were 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 directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BX shares. TD Cowen upped 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. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup lifted their price target on 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 upped their price objective on Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.38.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE BX opened at $177.46 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $128.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.71. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $157.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.08. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $96.15 and a one year high of $178.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s payout ratio 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.