Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. decreased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 171,855 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 13,957 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $26,316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 0.7% during the third quarter. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,928 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,439,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 251.8% during the third quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 33,100 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,069,000 after purchasing an additional 23,690 shares during the last quarter. Whetstone Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $210,000. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 2,604 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in Blackstone by 8.8% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 948 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $193.12 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $105.51 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $166.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.36, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were given a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 118.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.63.

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.