Fifth Third Bancorp Has $14.69 Million Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Fifth Third Bancorp decreased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 85,968 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,770 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $14,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth $35,000. Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter worth about $45,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $199.00 to $189.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. HSBC decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $178.00 to $174.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. BNP Paribas Exane lowered 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Blackstone from $166.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.82.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:BX opened at $129.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.58. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The company has a market cap of $95.94 billion, a PE ratio of 33.49, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 22.17% and a net margin of 20.89%.The business’s revenue was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.69 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.49 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 153.61%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,610. This represents a 99.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 384,468 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.01 per share, for a total transaction of $10,000,012.68. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,525,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $429,818,293.17. The trade was a 2.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by 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.