Webster Bank N. A. Sells 308 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Webster Bank N. A. decreased its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 62.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 188 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 308 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $29,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 12,192.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $908,797,000 after acquiring an additional 7,281,128 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings 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 worth $4,766,875,000 after buying an additional 2,546,886 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 19,048.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,883,409 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $247,423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,873,573 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,442,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290,324 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 213.5% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,375,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $170,345,000 after purchasing an additional 937,084 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $135.00.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.7 %

NYSE:BX opened at $153.04 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $109.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.08, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.59 and a 52 week high of $161.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $143.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $132.14.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. Blackstone’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.90%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone 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 in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.