Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Insider John Finley Sells 45,000 Shares of Stock

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) insider John Finley sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total transaction of $6,619,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 516,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,911,260.87. The trade was a 8.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock traded down $0.46 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $146.71. The stock had a trading volume of 4,177,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,627,463. The stock has a market cap of $108.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $124.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $1.29 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 115.44%.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BX. Family CFO Inc purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Citizens Jmp dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.