Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,853 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 777 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Waterloo Capital L.P. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 38,317 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,744,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in Blackstone by 14.4% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 1,296,649 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $160,525,000 after purchasing an additional 162,896 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 56,308 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,971,000 after acquiring an additional 4,974 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 54.9% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 15,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,922,000 after acquiring an additional 5,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Argent Trust Co lifted its stake in Blackstone by 6.8% during the second quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 78,581 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $9,728,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $154.93 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $88.59 and a 1 year high of $157.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $138.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.90. The firm has a market cap of $110.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.75, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued 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 business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. Blackstone’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.90%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 target price for the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.78.

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.