CenterBook Partners LP Has $5.64 Million Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

CenterBook Partners LP trimmed its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 20.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,316 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 10,374 shares during the quarter. CenterBook Partners LP's holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,635,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in Blackstone by 105.4% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,874,000 after acquiring an additional 6,878 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,109,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,363,000 after buying an additional 1,943 shares during the period. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $1,747,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $137.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $162.18.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. This represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of BX stock traded up $6.30 on Wednesday, reaching $166.10. The company had a trading volume of 5,662,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,879,585. The company has a 50-day moving average of $145.35 and a 200-day moving average of $150.72. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $121.19 billion, a PE ratio of 50.03, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

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.