Insider Selling: Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) CAO Sells 9,400 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Blackstone Inc.'s CAO David Payne sold 9,400 shares of the company's stock on August 7th for approximately $1.6 million, reducing his stake by 14.71% to 54,488 shares.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase, with a new payout of **$1.03**, up from **$0.93**, reflecting a **2.4% dividend yield** and a payout ratio of **110.75%**.
• Blackstone's recent earnings report showed a **32.7% increase in revenue** year-over-year, with earnings per share of **$1.21**, exceeding estimates of **$1.10**.

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) CAO David Payne sold 9,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.97, for a total transaction of $1,597,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 54,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,261,325.36. This represents a 14.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX traded up $1.66 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $170.57. 1,313,780 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,236,769. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $155.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.71.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. 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 dividend yield of 2.4%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 110.75%.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 2,208 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 44.4% during the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 20,709 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,098,000 after purchasing an additional 6,368 shares in the last quarter. Capital Square LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 51.9% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 7,539 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bulltick Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bulltick Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,569 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,880,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $170.12.

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.