Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Beta Wealth Group Inc.

Beta Wealth Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 41,148 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,889 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for about 3.1% of Beta Wealth Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Beta Wealth Group Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $7,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 15,357.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,201,150 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,433,220,000 after buying an additional 4,173,971 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 111.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 973,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $167,825,000 after purchasing an additional 512,165 shares during the period. Castleark Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $67,472,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,597,028,000 after purchasing an additional 348,751 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,272,227,000 after acquiring an additional 336,308 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX opened at $165.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $176.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.60. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $119.19 billion, a PE ratio of 45.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 94.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BX. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

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.