Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Stake Lowered by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp decreased its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 20.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 229,518 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 58,918 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Blackstone were worth $30,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 16,080 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,105,000 after buying an additional 1,025 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 13,602 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,781,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares in the last quarter. Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,087,000. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Finally, Cross Staff Investments Inc raised its position in Blackstone by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 42,042 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,504,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total transaction of $3,694,498.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 982,221 shares in the company, valued at $125,773,399.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total transaction of $3,694,498.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 982,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Argus raised their target price on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Oppenheimer cut Blackstone from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.65.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $1.87 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $120.62. 2,291,638 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,669,300. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.92 and a 1 year high of $133.56. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $125.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $118.68. The firm has a market cap of $86.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.98. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. Blackstone's revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 117.31%.

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.