Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Has $12.32 Million Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado decreased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 99,509 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,682 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $12,319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the first quarter worth $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 price target for the company. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $158.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.59 and a 12-month high of $161.25. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $139.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.36. The firm has a market cap of $113.00 billion, a PE ratio of 55.87, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.90%.

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.