6,787 Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 286,195 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 6,787 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $32,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Wellington Altus USA Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. NBH Bank purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 26,600.0% during the 2nd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 267 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Blackstone News

Investors following BX have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone is opening a private-wealth office in Dubai—its first hub of this kind outside Zurich—to court Gulf investors. Its Strategic Partners unit is also preparing a planned $3 billion real-estate secondaries fund, broadening access to regional capital and investor liquidity strategies. Article on Dubai office and fund
• Positive Sentiment: Director Ruth Porat bought 453 shares in two purchases totaling about $54,700. The purchases are a modest insider-confidence signal relative to her existing holdings. Insider purchase report
• Negative Sentiment: Blackstone reduced its quarterly dividend to $1.12 from $1.29 per share. Its latest reported revenue also came in below analysts’ expectations, despite an earnings-per-share beat; these factors may weigh on income-focused investors and sentiment.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone sold 124,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total transaction of $2,043,440.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone bought 272,642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $7,126,861.88. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,704,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,533,512.66. The trade was a 3.23% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 464,790 shares of company stock worth $12,198,198 and have sold 3,992,776 shares worth $25,507,509. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on BX. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. TD Cowen cut their target price on Blackstone from $154.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on Blackstone from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. HSBC reissued a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.57.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $120.09 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $165.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.52.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd were given a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 2nd. This is a decrease from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 99.56%.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc. is a global alternative asset manager that invests on behalf of institutional and individual investors. Its businesses span private equity, real estate, credit and insurance, infrastructure, and multi-asset investing, with strategies that include private funds and investment products for a range of clients. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson, the firm initially focused on mergers and acquisitions advisory work before expanding into investment management.