Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Balboa Wealth Partners

Balboa Wealth Partners lowered its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,502 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 255 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in Blackstone were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $27,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX opened at $181.21 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $159.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $102.59 and a 1-year high of $184.34. The stock has a market cap of $130.83 billion, a PE ratio of 62.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.49.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were given a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 118.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen raised their target price on Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.63.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Company 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.