Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 13.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,445 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,643 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 22,375 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,658 shares during the last quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the second quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 21,856 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,572,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Blackstone by 0.3% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,770,478 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $208,332,000 after buying an additional 5,103 shares during the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 49.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,176 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $727,000 after buying an additional 2,048 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan now owns 98,868 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,634,000 after acquiring an additional 4,484 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 371 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $137.17 per share, with a total value of $50,890.07. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 42,189 shares in the company, valued at $5,787,065.13. This trade represents a 0.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total transaction of $6,619,950.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 516,017 shares in the company, valued at $75,911,260.87. This represents a 8.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and have sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $143.32 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $131.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.93. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The company has a market capitalization of $107.58 billion, a PE ratio of 32.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.43.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.