Blackstone Inc. $BX Stock: CenterBook Partners LP Boosts Position

Key Points

• CenterBook Partners increased its Blackstone stake by 268.2% in the third quarter, ending the period with 29,550 shares valued at about $3.31 million. Institutional investors collectively own 70% of the stock.
• Blackstone beat quarterly earnings estimates, reporting $1.32 per share versus $1.26 expected, but revenue of $3.06 billion fell short of forecasts and was down 0.8% year over year.
• The company lowered its quarterly dividend to $1.12 from $1.29. Analysts’ consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $144.57.

CenterBook Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 268.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,550 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 21,524 shares during the quarter. CenterBook Partners LP's holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hudock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.3% during the second quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 22,369 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,632,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in Blackstone by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 3,691 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 2,625 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 2,323 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR boosted its position in Blackstone by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 18,572 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,082,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $119.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.71. The business's fifty day moving average price is $120.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.52. The stock has a market cap of $89.82 billion, a PE ratio of 26.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.52. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $165.14.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.27 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.16% and a net margin of 22.11%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Investors of record on Monday, November 2nd will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. This is a negative change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 99.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $128.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Blackstone from $154.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Blackstone to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $144.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total transaction of $12,380,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 771,599 shares in the company, valued at $95,523,956.20. The trade was a 11.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone acquired 272,642 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $7,126,861.88. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,704,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $227,533,512.66. The trade was a 3.23% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 464,792 shares of company stock worth $12,205,945 and sold 4,047,276 shares worth $33,507,144. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc is a global alternative asset manager that invests on behalf of institutional and individual investors. Its businesses span private equity, real estate, credit and insurance, infrastructure, and multi-asset investing, with strategies that include private funds and investment products for a range of clients.

Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson, the firm initially focused on mergers and acquisitions advisory work before expanding into investment management.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.