Sentry Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 17.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,087 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 632 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $217,000. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 8,507 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 20,759 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,718,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 2,390 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wade G W & Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Wade G W & Inc. now owns 37,268 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,879,000 after acquiring an additional 1,786 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BX. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $128.94.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $143.27 on Thursday. 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 cap of $103.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.63, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $88.59 and a 1 year high of $145.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $135.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.00.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.90%.

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.