Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lowered its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 7,429 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intrua Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 60.8% in the 2nd quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 7,834 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 2,963 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter worth approximately $232,000. Good Life Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 11,760 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 1,686 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABN Amro Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth $6,178,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Blackstone from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $173.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Blackstone from $199.00 to $187.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Blackstone from $171.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.00.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.4%

Blackstone stock opened at $141.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $104.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.76. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $163.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.77.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 22.30%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 147.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total transaction of $3,686,390.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 453,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,814,720.56. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $146.92 per share, with a total value of $47,602.08. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 39,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,741,192.84. This represents a 0.84% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have acquired 2,565,543 shares of company stock valued at $69,050,139 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.