Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by First Interstate Bank

First Interstate Bank lessened its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 35,222 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 122 shares during the quarter. First Interstate Bank’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 105.4% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 6,878 shares in the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $273,000. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 22.1% during the second quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 12,042 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182 shares in the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $423,000. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 14.5% during the first quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 14,708 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,056,000 after purchasing an additional 1,863 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total transaction of $104,478,673.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total transaction of $8,829,594.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 737,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $128,015,742.72. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 2,538,345 shares of company stock worth $65,046,628 and have sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BX. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $181.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $179.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.26.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX opened at $156.37 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $115.26 billion, a PE ratio of 42.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.77. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $154.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. As a group, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

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.