Country Trust Bank Sells 18,025 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Country Trust Bank decreased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 9.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 177,275 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 18,025 shares during the period. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $27,146,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Blackstone by 7.5% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,766,875,000 after buying an additional 2,546,886 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 12,192.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $908,797,000 after buying an additional 7,281,128 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Blackstone by 2.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 141,616 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 0.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,670,645 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $613,581,000 after purchasing an additional 21,450 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $149.44 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.80 billion, a PE ratio of 52.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.59 and a 1-year high of $161.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.54.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.90%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone 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 value of $17,561,522.88. Following the sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research 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 price target for the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.06.

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.