Insider Selling: Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Insider Sells 21,500 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Blackstone insider, John Finley, sold 21,500 shares of stock at an average price of $171.46, totaling approximately $3.69 million, resulting in a 4.52% decrease in his position.
• The firm recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, representing a Annualized Yield of 2.3% and up from the previous quarterly dividend of $0.93.
• Blackstone's quarterly earnings exceeded estimates, reporting $1.21 EPS on revenue of $3.07 billion, marking a year-over-year revenue increase of 32.7%.

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) insider John Finley sold 21,500 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total value of $3,686,390.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 453,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $77,814,720.56. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Blackstone Trading Up 3.0%

BX traded up $5.17 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $178.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,345,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,293,923. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $168.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The firm has a market cap of $131.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.94, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.77.

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 firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. Blackstone's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 110.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. 1248 Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter worth about $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $172.38.

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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