Fiduciary Trust Co Decreases Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Fiduciary Trust Co lessened its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 23,595 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,349 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,613,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 15.8% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,250 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth $290,000. PGGM Investments purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth $750,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Blackstone by 276.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 318,885 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $41,892,000 after acquiring an additional 234,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 148.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 84,068 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,044,000 after acquiring an additional 50,244 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays increased their price target on Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.63.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.4 %

BX opened at $189.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $144.38. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $106.00 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.49.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. Analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.