MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 4,547 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

MetLife Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 219,128 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,547 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $33,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BX. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. Barclays upped their price objective 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.63.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $192.52 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $167.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.76. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $106.00 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.00 billion, a PE ratio of 65.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.49.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a $0.86 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Company 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.