Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock Sees Unusually High Put Option Buying

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders acquired 60,301 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 199% compared to the average volume of 20,158 put options.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE BX traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $119.71. 4,231,855 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,078,072. Blackstone has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $165.14. The firm has a market cap of $89.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $120.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. Blackstone had a net margin of 22.11% and a return on equity of 23.16%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Blackstone will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. This is a decrease from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $128.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Credit Suisse Group set a $165.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on Blackstone from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $126.00 price target on Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.57.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone bought 191,695 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.17 per share, for a total transaction of $5,016,658.15. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,895,478 shares in the company, valued at $232,794,659.26. This trade represents a 2.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone sold 124,600 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total value of $2,043,440.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 464,792 shares of company stock valued at $12,205,945 and have sold 4,047,276 shares valued at $33,507,144. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BX. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,112,162,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,364,373,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $605,267,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $514,736,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth approximately $270,380,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc is a global alternative asset manager that invests on behalf of institutional and individual investors. Its businesses span private equity, real estate, credit and insurance, infrastructure, and multi-asset investing, with strategies that include private funds and investment products for a range of clients.

Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson, the firm initially focused on mergers and acquisitions advisory work before expanding into investment management.