Toronto Dominion Bank Decreases Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Toronto Dominion Bank reduced its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 243,006 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 109,253 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank's holdings in Blackstone were worth $37,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in BX. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth $27,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth $31,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on BX. Barclays boosted their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Blackstone from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $149.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $164.69.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX traded down $2.12 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $190.29. 2,827,897 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,395,748. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $174.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.41. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $112.44 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.51.

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 company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date 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%.

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.