Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund trimmed its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 377,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 23,000 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $57,730,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BX. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup raised their target price on Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.63.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.4 %

BX stock opened at $188.89 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $168.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.07. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $106.00 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $136.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.91, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.49.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. Research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

Blackstone 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.