Conning Inc. Reduces Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Conning Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,417 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 127 shares during the period. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 6,878 shares during the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $273,000. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 2,182 shares during the period. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $423,000. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 14,708 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,056,000 after acquiring an additional 1,863 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 2,538,071 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.61 per share, with a total value of $64,999,998.31. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 7,506,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $192,234,012.49. This trade represents a 51.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $104,478,673.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 3,727,877 shares of company stock valued at $95,046,625 and have sold 16,984,634 shares valued at $155,181,346. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $153.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $113.42 billion, a PE ratio of 41.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.77. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $172.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.22. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 EPS 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 for the quarter. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were given a $1.03 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 110.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Blackstone from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $181.00 to $171.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.00.

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.