HM Payson & Co. Sells 517 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

HM Payson & Co. decreased its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 45,033 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 517 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,442,227,000 after buying an additional 1,290,324 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,766,875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546,886 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,281,128 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,266,207 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $775,758,000 after buying an additional 141,616 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,670,645 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $613,581,000 after purchasing an additional 21,450 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.4 %

BX stock traded down $0.74 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $170.80. The company had a trading volume of 138,024 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,414,148. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $122.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $152.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.62. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.14 and a fifty-two week high of $175.94.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 28th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.38.

About Blackstone

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.