Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Insider John Finley Sells 21,500 Shares of Stock

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) insider John Finley sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total value of $3,686,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 453,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,814,720.56. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $178.34 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $168.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $131.46 billion, a PE ratio of 47.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.77.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%.Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 110.75%.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $27,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays raised their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.38.

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.