V Square Quantitative Management LLC Sells 182 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC reduced its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,482 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 182 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BCS Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth $225,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 75,267 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,526,000 after buying an additional 1,468 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 2,240 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.3% during the third quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 6,379 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $977,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.5 %

BX opened at $172.36 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $147.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $133.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.59 and a fifty-two week high of $175.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.90, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 121.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. Piper Sandler lowered Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group upped their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone 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.