Short Interest in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Drops By 14.6%

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,279,700 shares, a decline 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 days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.88.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded up $0.76 during trading on Friday, reaching $178.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,655,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,989,509. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $180.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $161.95. Blackstone has a fifty-two week low of $115.82 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $128.90 billion, a PE ratio of 61.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.53.

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

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.