Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,087 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 632 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,442,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290,324 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 7.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,766,875,000 after buying an additional 2,546,886 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 6,429,749 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $841,783,000 after buying an additional 322,860 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $708,859,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,670,645 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $613,581,000 after purchasing an additional 21,450 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone 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 $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $143.27 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $88.59 and a 1 year high of $145.16. The company has a market capitalization of $103.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $135.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $128.00.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BX shares. TD Cowen increased their price target on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.94.

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.