Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Short Interest Down 14.6% in January

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,279,700 shares, a decrease of 14.6% from the December 31st total of 15,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,308,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 123.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,812 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,453,000 after purchasing an additional 10,952 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $95,000. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 30.5% during the second quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 2,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 7,917.6% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 400,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $49,520,000 after purchasing an additional 395,011 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $176.92 on Friday. Blackstone has a 52-week low of $115.82 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.80, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $162.26.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $1.44 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays dropped their target price on Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.13.

Blackstone Company 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.