Huntington National Bank Sells 4,562 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Huntington National Bank cut its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 14.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,973 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,562 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc grew its holdings in Blackstone by 84.7% during the 4th quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 4,543 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 2,084 shares in the last quarter. Coordinated Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Coordinated Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,124 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $958,000 after acquiring an additional 636 shares in the last quarter. Expressive Wealth LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $293,000. Wealth Advisors of Tampa Bay LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Advisors of Tampa Bay LLC now owns 28,723 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 26,534 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,090,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $116.06 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.68, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $118.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.80. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. Blackstone’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 118.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on BX. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $138.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citizens Jmp lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.05.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone purchased 9,486,795 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,111,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,236,000. This represents a -2,529.85% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total transaction of $26,246,039.04. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,670.32. This represents a 99.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 12,355,303 shares of company stock worth $264,789,896 and sold 7,532,518 shares worth $30,496,500. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.