Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Vantage Investment Partners LLC

Vantage Investment Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 105,948 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 327 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for approximately 1.4% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $16,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BX. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $183.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.94, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $157.11 and its 200-day moving average is $138.18. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.93 and a twelve month high of $183.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 118.21%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. 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 analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.63.

Blackstone 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.