Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Director Joseph Baratta Sells 100,000 Shares of Stock

by · The Cerbat Gem

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX – Get Free Report) Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total transaction of $12,380,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 771,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,523,956.20. This represents a 11.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $125.00 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $134.28 and a 200 day moving average of $123.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $93.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $189.88.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The business had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 115.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on BX. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Blackstone from $140.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Blackstone from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, HSBC restated a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.43.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Blackstone

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,112,162,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Blackstone by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,861,885,000 after buying an additional 179,213 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,364,373,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,275,747,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Blackstone by 99.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $983,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,178,133 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone

(Get Free Report)

Blackstone Inc is a global alternative asset management firm that provides investment management and advisory services to institutions, corporations, and individual investors. The company invests across multiple asset classes, including private equity, real estate, credit, infrastructure, insurance solutions, and hedge fund solutions.

Its investment activities include acquiring and managing businesses, commercial and residential properties, infrastructure assets, and credit investments.

See Also