Blackstone (NYSE:BX) CAO Sells $1,379,685.00 in Stock

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total transaction of $1,379,685.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,359,783.04. This represents a 12.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock traded down $0.46 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $146.71. 4,177,123 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,627,463. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.55.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion for 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 revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 115.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.95.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 100,951 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,561,000 after buying an additional 8,321 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter worth approximately $1,340,000. Benson Investment Management Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,856,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,046,859,000 after purchasing an additional 840,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 92.2% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 807,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $92,817,000 after buying an additional 387,109 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Blackstone

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.