Vantage Investment Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Vantage Investment Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 105,948 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 327 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises 1.4% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $16,224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 12,192.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $908,797,000 after purchasing an additional 7,281,128 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 15,357.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,201,150 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,433,220,000 after acquiring an additional 4,173,971 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,766,875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546,886 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $247,423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,873,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 1,290,324 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen upped their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler lowered Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.63.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $183.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.24 billion, a PE ratio of 62.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.49. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.93 and a 12 month high of $183.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $157.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.18.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted 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 the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.