Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. has reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 35.2%, bringing their holdings to 37,418 shares, valued at approximately $5.23 million.
• Research analysts show optimism with several upgrade ratings for Blackstone, including target price increases from firms such as Evercore ISI and JMP Securities, highlighting a consensus target price of $170.12.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend increase from $0.93 to $1.03, reflecting a payout ratio of 100% and an annual yield of 2.33%.

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 35.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,418 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 20,329 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays lifted their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $170.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the transaction, the director owned 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. This trade represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have purchased 2,849,769 shares of company stock worth $54,932,307 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of BX stock opened at $176.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $149.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.43. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a market capitalization of $129.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.53, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%. The firm's revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 100.00%.

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.

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