Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 400 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 213 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $61,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% in the first 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 increased 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 purchasing an additional 2,546,886 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in Blackstone by 12,192.7% during the second 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 during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Blackstone by 2.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,266,207 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $775,758,000 after acquiring an additional 141,616 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.5% during 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s 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. The trade was a 0.00 % 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 this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of BX opened at $153.05 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.59 and a fifty-two week high of $161.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.21 billion, a PE ratio of 58.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s fifty day moving average is $143.32 and its 200 day moving average is $131.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The company’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 125.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $163.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $135.00.

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.