M&G PLC Lowers Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

M&G PLC decreased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 32.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 17,161 shares during the period. M&G PLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BX. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter worth $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BX. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $165.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 12th. Evercore cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Argus dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.76.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:BX opened at $131.35 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.31. The company has a market capitalization of $97.00 billion, a PE ratio of 33.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.69 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $1.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 153.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 384,468 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.01 per share, for a total transaction of $10,000,012.68. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 16,525,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $429,818,293.17. This trade represents a 2.38% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at $21,610. The trade was a 99.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.