24,751 Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 71.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 24,751 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 5.2% during the third quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 11,041 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Canopy Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter worth $214,000. Brian Low Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 28.1% in the third quarter. Brian Low Financial Group LLC now owns 20,191 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,263,000 after buying an additional 4,423 shares during the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 5,274 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $591,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Glenview Trust Co grew its stake in Blackstone by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Glenview Trust Co now owns 24,172 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,709,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Trading Up 6.3%

Shares of BX stock opened at $125.61 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.52. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $165.14. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $121.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. Blackstone had a net margin of 22.11% and a return on equity of 23.16%. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Investors of record on Monday, November 2nd will be paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 2nd. This is a drop from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 99.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Citizens Jmp dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $122.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Blackstone from $128.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 3,767,776 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $11,077,261.44. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,392.80. This trade represents a 99.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total value of $12,380,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 771,599 shares in the company, valued at $95,523,956.20. This represents a 11.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 464,792 shares of company stock valued at $12,205,945 and sold 4,047,276 shares valued at $33,507,144. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE:BX) is a global alternative asset management firm that provides investment and advisory services to institutional investors, companies, and qualified individual investors. The company manages capital across private equity, real estate, credit and insurance, infrastructure, hedge fund solutions, secondaries, and growth-oriented investments.

Blackstone invests in and manages portfolios of businesses, properties, infrastructure assets, and credit instruments across a range of industries.