Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp trimmed its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 286,195 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 6,787 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $32,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,112,162,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,364,373,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $605,267,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,520,908 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $519,859,000 after acquiring an additional 333,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,353,274 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $512,250,000 after acquiring an additional 52,755 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $128.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Argus increased their price target on Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $164.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 16th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.57.

Latest Blackstone News

Here’s some of the latest news about BX:

• Positive Sentiment: Director Ruth Porat bought 453 shares in two purchases totaling about $54,700. The purchases are a modest insider-confidence signal relative to her existing holdings. Insider purchase report
• Neutral Sentiment: Blackstone may provide Pfizer up to $1.5 billion for development of an experimental obesity drug. The deal could offer exposure to a large market, but its eventual value depends on the drug’s development and commercial success. Article on Pfizer funding
• Negative Sentiment: Blackstone reduced its quarterly dividend to $1.12 from $1.29 per share. Its latest reported revenue also came in below analysts’ expectations, despite an earnings-per-share beat; these factors may weigh on income-focused investors and sentiment.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.3%

BX opened at $120.09 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $118.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.52. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $165.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.27 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.16% and a net margin of 22.11%. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd were given a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. This is a drop from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 2nd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total value of $12,380,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 771,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,523,956.20. This trade represents a 11.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $120.88 per share, with a total value of $44,604.72. Following the acquisition, the director owned 42,558 shares in the company, valued at $5,144,411.04. This represents a 0.87% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 464,790 shares of company stock worth $12,198,198 and sold 3,992,776 shares worth $25,507,509. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc. is a global alternative asset manager that invests on behalf of institutional and individual investors. Its businesses span private equity, real estate, credit and insurance, infrastructure, and multi-asset investing, with strategies that include private funds and investment products for a range of clients. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson, the firm initially focused on mergers and acquisitions advisory work before expanding into investment management.