Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Trims Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 73,203 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 539 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $11,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler downgraded Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective 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. Citigroup upped their target price on Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $174.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, 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. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $188.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.02 billion, a PE ratio of 64.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $176.14 and a 200-day moving average of $149.15. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.88 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) 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. The company 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, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. 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.