Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Short Interest Update

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 18,590,000 shares, an increase of 9.6% from the August 31st total of 16,960,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.5 days.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $1.25 on Tuesday, reaching $151.88. The stock had a trading volume of 2,948,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,472,039. The business’s 50 day moving average is $141.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $130.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $108.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone has a 1 year low of $88.59 and a 1 year high of $161.25.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 254,099 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $33,267,000 after buying an additional 20,830 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 431,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $53,455,000 after purchasing an additional 7,692 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 2,072.0% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 36,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,802,000 after purchasing an additional 34,872 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Secured Retirement Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,073,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 price target on the stock. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.78.

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.