John G. Finley Sells 35,000 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Stock

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $130.93. 1,415,954 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,543,412. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $93.57 billion, a PE ratio of 46.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $127.90 and a 200 day moving average of $125.97. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.59 and a 1-year high of $145.16.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. Blackstone’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Argus lifted their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $127.56.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 86.2% during the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

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.