CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 1,624 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

CENTRAL TRUST Co decreased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,624 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the third quarter worth $598,000. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.3% in the third quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 18,306 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,803,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 15,357.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,201,150 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,433,220,000 after purchasing an additional 4,173,971 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $230,000. Finally, SOL Capital Management CO grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.5% in the third quarter. SOL Capital Management CO now owns 87,599 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,414,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BX. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.38.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of BX opened at $167.50 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.39. The company has a market capitalization of $119.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.59 and a 1-year high of $175.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.55%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. This represents a 0.00 % 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.

About Blackstone

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.