Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock Price Down 4.4% – Here’s Why

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) shares fell 4.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $176.20 and last traded at $177.18. 1,544,495 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 2,827,033 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BX. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.13.

Blackstone Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $180.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $162.26. The firm has a market cap of $127.74 billion, a PE ratio of 60.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.21%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,024 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $526,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in Blackstone by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 894,657 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $154,257,000 after purchasing an additional 19,800 shares in the last quarter. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 18,902 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,259,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,018 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

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.