Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock Price Down 4.4% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) fell 4.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $176.20 and last traded at $177.18. 1,544,495 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 2,827,033 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.38.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.13.

Blackstone Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $180.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $162.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.74 billion, a PE ratio of 60.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. Research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 15,357.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,201,150 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,433,220,000 after purchasing an additional 4,173,971 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 111.1% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 973,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $167,825,000 after acquiring an additional 512,165 shares during the period. Castleark Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at about $67,472,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,597,028,000 after acquiring an additional 348,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,272,227,000 after acquiring an additional 336,308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

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.