WASHINGTON TRUST Co Sells 979 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

WASHINGTON TRUST Co reduced its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 122,732 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 979 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $18,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. D Orazio & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 1,686 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. ABN Amro Investment Solutions bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,178,000. Kaizen Financial Strategies boosted its stake in Blackstone by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 29,940 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,478,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the period. Hudock Inc. grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 12.6% in the second quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 22,762 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,405,000 after purchasing an additional 2,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 5.9% during the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 111,281 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $16,645,000 after purchasing an additional 6,190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX traded down $3.55 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $140.81. 429,427 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,133,466. The company has a market cap of $103.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.31, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.76. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $164.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.67.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 147.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $200.00 to $199.00 in a report on Friday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Blackstone from $173.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating 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 for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $166.00 target price on shares of Blackstone and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.74.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 453,836 shares in the company, valued at $77,814,720.56. The trade was a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 2,538,071 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.61 per share, for a total transaction of $64,999,998.31. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,506,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $192,234,012.49. This trade represents a 51.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 2,565,141 shares of company stock worth $68,991,351. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.