First National Trust Co Lowers Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

First National Trust Co decreased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,485 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,442,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290,324 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Blackstone by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,766,875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546,886 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 12,192.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $908,797,000 after buying an additional 7,281,128 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Blackstone by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,266,207 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $775,758,000 after acquiring an additional 141,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,670,645 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $613,581,000 after purchasing an additional 21,450 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on BX. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.3 %

BX opened at $180.78 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.93 and a fifty-two week high of $183.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.12, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $157.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.60.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a $0.86 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 118.21%.

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.