Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Short Interest Down 13.5% in November

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,000,000 shares, a drop of 13.5% from the October 31st total of 19,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.63.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was 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 directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of BX traded down $0.19 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $186.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 354,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,398,277. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a fifty day moving average of $169.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.09. The company has a market cap of $134.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone has a twelve month low of $111.05 and a twelve month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

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.