Jennison Associates LLC Sells 111,247 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Jennison Associates LLC reduced its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 29.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 260,365 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 111,247 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $38,945,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 2,538,071 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.61 per share, with a total value of $64,999,998.31. Following the transaction, the insider owned 7,506,209 shares in the company, valued at $192,234,012.49. This represents a 51.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total value of $3,686,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 453,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,814,720.56. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders bought 2,538,345 shares of company stock worth $65,046,628 and sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $148.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $109.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.40, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $168.98 and its 200 day moving average is $156.52. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 20.56%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. HSBC reduced their price target on Blackstone from $179.00 to $178.00 in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Blackstone from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.74.

Blackstone 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.