Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. has reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 44.1%, now holding 23,207 shares valued at approximately $3.47 million.
• Blackstone recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.03 per share, reflecting a positive change in shareholder returns.
• The stock has a market cap of $120.91 billion and analysts have a consensus price target of $180.33, indicating a "Moderate Buy" rating.

Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 44.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,207 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 18,302 shares during the period. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter worth $25,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc bought a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $164.04 on Wednesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $172.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $154.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $120.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.10, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.77. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. As a group, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 110.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total value of $104,478,673.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total transaction of $8,829,594.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 737,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $128,015,742.72. The trade was a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 3,727,877 shares of company stock worth $95,046,625 and sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $194.00 to $188.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $180.33.

Blackstone Profile

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.

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 and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.