Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by State of Tennessee Department of Treasury

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury decreased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 282,637 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 12,166 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $48,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bangor Savings Bank grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $130.26 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $145.13 and its 200-day moving average is $164.95. The company has a market cap of $95.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lowered their target price on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Citizens Jmp raised Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $186.00 to $129.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.72.

Blackstone Profile

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.