Quantbot Technologies LP Reduces Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Quantbot Technologies LP cut its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 96.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,686 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 76,335 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $411,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 20,328 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,517,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 38,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,809,000 after purchasing an additional 1,583 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,616 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,809,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 11.7% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 2,762 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.5 %

BX opened at $186.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $134.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $170.46 and its 200-day moving average is $145.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $111.05 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 118.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 in the company, 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 currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.63.

About Blackstone

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.