Blackstone Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:BX)

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 29,939 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 62% compared to the average daily volume of 18,509 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on BX shares. Evercore dropped their price target on Blackstone from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $199.00 to $189.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, HSBC decreased their target price on Blackstone from $178.00 to $174.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 1,146,789 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.16 per share, for a total transaction of $30,000,000.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 16,716,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $437,297,073.84. The trade was a 7.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,275,747,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Blackstone by 99.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $983,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,178,133 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,394,670,000 after buying an additional 1,494,796 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 85.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,709,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $417,620,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249,269 shares during the period. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the third quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $194,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,197 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:BX traded down $0.73 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $109.92. 5,945,970 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,217,043. The company has a market cap of $81.58 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Blackstone has a one year low of $105.09 and a one year high of $190.09. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $138.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.10.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The business’s revenue was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $1.49 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 153.61%.

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.