Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Trims Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado trimmed its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102,191 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,234 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $13,425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 36,215 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,741,000 after acquiring an additional 9,699 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Blackstone by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 367,841 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $48,158,000 after purchasing an additional 28,856 shares in the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 20,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,649,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 254,099 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,267,000 after buying an additional 20,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2,072.0% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 36,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,802,000 after purchasing an additional 34,872 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $140.98 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.19. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $88.59 and a twelve month high of $145.16. The company has a market capitalization of $100.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.82, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 117.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Argus raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $127.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 219 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.