Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,390,000 shares, a decrease of 14.0% from the January 31st total of 10,920,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $316,257,000. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $239,837,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,533,972,000 after buying an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,990,238 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $515,577,000 after acquiring an additional 835,170 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE:BX traded down $2.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $143.12. 3,695,716 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,285,113. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone has a fifty-two week low of $115.82 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The company has a market capitalization of $103.34 billion, a PE ratio of 39.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.69.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

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.