Atria Investments Inc Lowers Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Atria Investments Inc reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 56,853 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 23,024 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $9,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,071,348,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,394,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,796 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 31.9% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,803,344 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $568,902,000 after buying an additional 919,773 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Blackstone by 115.4% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,088,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $162,861,000 after buying an additional 583,384 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 19.9% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 2,904,030 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $444,494,000 after acquiring an additional 482,528 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their target price on Blackstone from $199.00 to $189.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. HSBC cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $178.00 to $174.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $183.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Blackstone from $171.00 to $164.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.82.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $129.87 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $95.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.47, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.76. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $150.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $158.46.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.17% and a net margin of 20.89%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.69 EPS. Analysts predict 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 will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.49 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 153.61%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 384,468 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.01 per share, with a total value of $10,000,012.68. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 16,525,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,818,293.17. This represents a 2.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at $21,610. This trade represents a 99.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.