Toronto Dominion Bank Sells 109,253 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Toronto Dominion Bank cut its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 243,006 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 109,253 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $37,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sather Financial Group Inc grew its position in Blackstone by 202.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $926,000 after purchasing an additional 4,050 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at $201,000. Aljian Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at $1,951,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2,185.4% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,901,000 after buying an additional 18,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,169,526 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $179,089,000 after buying an additional 36,343 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX opened at $192.46 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $112.09 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $173.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $148.10. The firm has a market cap of $138.95 billion, a PE ratio of 66.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 118.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $174.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.25.

Blackstone 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.