Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,189,098 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 6,611 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $203,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BX. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BX. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays dropped their price target on Blackstone from $171.00 to $164.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $166.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 384,468 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.01 per share, with a total value of $10,000,012.68. Following the purchase, the insider owned 16,525,117 shares in the company, valued at $429,818,293.17. This represents a 2.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 2,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,610. This represents a 99.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $129.93 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The company has a market cap of $95.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.76. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.89.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.17% and a net margin of 20.89%.Blackstone’s revenue was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.69 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be issued a $1.49 dividend. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 153.61%.

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.