Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lowered its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 81,081 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 2,954 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $13,980,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bangor Savings Bank increased its position in Blackstone by 187.5% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.
A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BX shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $172.38.
Get Our Latest Analysis on BX
In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Shares of BX traded up $1.35 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $152.08. The stock had a trading volume of 4,687,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,274,336. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $109.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $170.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $166.84. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96.
Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.
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.
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