Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Stake Lowered by Toronto Dominion Bank

Toronto Dominion Bank lessened its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 221,872 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 21,134 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank's holdings in Blackstone were worth $38,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $63,109,000. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 214.2% during the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,845,000 after buying an additional 15,205 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Blackstone by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 716,319 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $123,508,000 after acquiring an additional 5,951 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $154.82.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $136.71. 3,856,272 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,785,236. The stock has a market cap of $99.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The firm's 50 day moving average is $137.43 and its 200 day moving average is $160.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's payout ratio is 112.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the transaction, the director now owns 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The acquisition 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 now directly owns 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. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Company 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.