Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Sells 1,051 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,318 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,051 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BX. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $708,859,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Blackstone by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,766,875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546,886 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $290,514,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 19,048.1% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,883,409 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $247,423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,873,573 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,442,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290,324 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BX. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.78.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $154.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $137.05 and a 200 day moving average of $128.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.59 and a 12-month high of $155.18.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 115.90%.

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.