PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,189,098 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 6,611 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned about 0.16% of Blackstone worth $203,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,394,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,796 shares in the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 21.2% in the second quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 18,785 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,810,000 after buying an additional 3,281 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 2.1% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 346,318 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $58,337,000 after purchasing an additional 7,053 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 733.2% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 13,715 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,343,000 after purchasing an additional 12,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 259.8% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 22,160 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,315,000 after acquiring an additional 16,001 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $166.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $195.00 target price on Blackstone in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at $21,610. The trade was a 99.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 385,208 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.96 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,999.68. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 16,332,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $424,001,642.68. This trade represents a 2.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.1%

BX opened at $129.93 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $150.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.89. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The company has a market cap of $95.94 billion, a PE ratio of 33.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.17% and a net margin of 20.89%.The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.49 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $5.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 153.61%.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.