City of London Investment Management Co. Ltd. Sells 20,182 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• City of London Investment Management cut its Blackstone stake by 84.6% in the third quarter, selling 20,182 shares and retaining 3,667 shares valued at about $411,000.
• Blackstone’s quarterly EPS of $1.32 beat estimates of $1.26, but revenue of $3.06 billion fell short of expectations and declined 0.8% year over year.
• The company reduced its quarterly dividend from $1.29 to $1.12 per share. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $144.57.

City of London Investment Management Co. Ltd. lowered its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 84.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,667 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 20,182 shares during the period. City of London Investment Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $411,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,112,162,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth $1,364,373,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at about $605,267,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth about $514,736,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $270,380,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total value of $12,380,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 771,599 shares in the company, valued at $95,523,956.20. This represents a 11.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 3,767,776 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total value of $11,077,261.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 16,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,392.80. The trade was a 99.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 464,792 shares of company stock worth $12,205,945 and sold 4,047,276 shares worth $33,507,144. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Trading Up 6.3%

Shares of BX opened at $125.61 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $165.14. The firm has a market cap of $94.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.52. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $121.32 and a 200 day moving average of $123.91.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. Blackstone had a net margin of 22.11% and a return on equity of 23.16%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a drop from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 99.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Credit Suisse Group set a $165.00 target price on Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 23rd. HSBC reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Blackstone to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $128.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Blackstone from $164.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $144.57.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc NYSE: BX is a global alternative asset management firm that provides investment and advisory services to institutional investors, companies, and qualified individual investors. The company manages capital across private equity, real estate, credit and insurance, infrastructure, hedge fund solutions, secondaries, and growth-oriented investments.

Blackstone invests in and manages portfolios of businesses, properties, infrastructure assets, and credit instruments across a range of industries.

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.