Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.

Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 154,395 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,898 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises approximately 1.2% of Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $17,306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hudock Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 22,369 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,632,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 3,691 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 2,625 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.5% in the third quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 18,572 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,082,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carson Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.0% during the first quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 9,719 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,118,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone bought 191,695 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.17 per share, for a total transaction of $5,016,658.15. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 8,895,478 shares in the company, valued at $232,794,659.26. This trade represents a 2.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 771,599 shares in the company, valued at $95,523,956.20. This trade represents a 11.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 4,047,276 shares of company stock valued at $33,507,144 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $119.66 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $120.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.52. The company has a market cap of $89.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.52. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $165.14.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.27 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 22.11% and a return on equity of 23.16%. Blackstone’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. This is a negative change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 2nd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BX. Credit Suisse Group set a $165.00 price objective on Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Blackstone from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $122.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $128.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.57.

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.