Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 546,075 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 8,122 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.07% of Blackstone worth $84,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Blackstone by 1.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,827,437 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $12,100,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,060 shares during the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the 3rd quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $194,746,000 after buying an additional 1,133,197 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Blackstone by 115.4% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,088,786 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $162,861,000 after acquiring an additional 583,384 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 11.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,107,665 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $701,795,000 after purchasing an additional 416,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,362,796 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,358,334,000 after purchasing an additional 412,281 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 2,868,069 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $75,000,004.35. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 18,628,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $487,129,914.25. This trade represents a 18.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 4.8%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $125.55 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $93.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.74. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $115.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.27.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 152.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $138.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $156.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $150.95.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc NYSE: BX is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone's business is organized around several principal investment platforms.

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