Short Interest in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Decreases By 5.4%

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,550,000 shares, a decline of 5.4% from the November 30th total of 16,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,320,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.00.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock traded up $0.37 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $172.42. 2,181,175 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,425,295. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.49 billion, a PE ratio of 59.25, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $180.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.35. Blackstone has a twelve month low of $114.88 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BX. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 57.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 276 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.