Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $7.68 Million Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 6.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,164 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 3,689 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems' holdings in Blackstone were worth $7,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Portside Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at $201,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 431,784 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $53,455,000 after purchasing an additional 7,692 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 936.2% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,958 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $783,000 after buying an additional 5,383 shares during the period. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $557,000. Finally, Scientech Research LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,364,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on BX. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $157.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:BX traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $181.41. 2,893,873 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,417,253. The firm has a market cap of $130.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.32, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.02. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.79 and a 52-week high of $184.34.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 118.21%.

Blackstone 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.