Allstate Corp Sells 151 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Allstate Corp lessened its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,672 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 151 shares during the period. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 86.2% during the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 763.0% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.65.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX stock traded up $0.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $123.87. The company had a trading volume of 490,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,617,081. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.94 and a 52-week high of $133.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $124.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $88.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.52.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.98. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 117.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 219 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 34,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,115,488.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone

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.