ING Groep NV Has $5.56 Million Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

ING Groep NV lowered its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 58.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,294 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 52,098 shares during the period. ING Groep NV's holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter worth $250,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 4.2% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,749 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,177,000 after acquiring an additional 840 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.9% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 28,027 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058 shares in the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position in Blackstone by 979.9% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 1,771 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 1,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Blackstone by 87.2% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 166,413 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $25,482,000 after buying an additional 77,537 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX traded up $0.20 on Friday, hitting $181.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,893,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,417,253. The company has a market capitalization of $130.98 billion, a PE 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. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $102.79 and a fifty-two week high of $184.34. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $161.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.02.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler downgraded Blackstone from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $149.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays raised their price target on Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $157.63.

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.