Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Decreases Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lessened its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 75,661 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 253 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $13,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Sather Financial Group Inc raised its stake in Blackstone by 202.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 4,050 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at about $201,000. Aljian Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter worth approximately $1,951,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 2,185.4% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,901,000 after acquiring an additional 18,117 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,169,526 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $179,089,000 after purchasing an additional 36,343 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $170.86 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $123.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.07, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The business has a 50-day moving average of $179.76 and a 200-day moving average of $162.89.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $1.44 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by 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.