abrdn plc Sells 75,174 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

abrdn plc lowered its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 17.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 348,417 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 75,174 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $60,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 1.8% in the third quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Investmark Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone by 32.1% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,374 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on BX. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of BX stock opened at $170.86 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $179.76 and a 200-day moving average of $162.89. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The firm has a market cap of $123.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.07, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 94.77%.

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.