State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 139,070 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 263,127 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 139,070 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $32,575,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of BX opened at $146.56 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $135.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.13. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.59 and a 12-month high of $146.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 115.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of 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 Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays upped their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 price target on the stock. Fourteen 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone 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 value of $4,610,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.