Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Short Interest Update

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,279,700 shares, a decrease of 14.6% from the December 31st total of 15,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,308,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BX. 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 report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America increased their price target on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group upped their price objective on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.13.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of BX traded down $0.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $176.92. 3,006,940 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,629,713. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.74 billion, a PE ratio of 60.80, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $162.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. Blackstone has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 118.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 123.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,812 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,453,000 after buying an additional 10,952 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $95,000. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 30.5% during the 2nd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 2,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in Blackstone by 7,917.6% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 400,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $49,520,000 after buying an additional 395,011 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.