Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Short Interest Up 14.3% in October

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) was the target of a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 19,650,000 shares, a growth of 14.3% from the October 15th total of 17,190,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,160,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.2 days.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.6 %

BX stock traded down $1.08 during trading on Monday, reaching $180.33. The stock had a trading volume of 285,295 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,403,209. The company has a market capitalization of $130.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.49. 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’s 50 day moving average is $161.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.34. Blackstone has a one year low of $104.39 and a one year high of $184.34.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. The firm 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 4.39 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 118.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BX. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $27,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.