Meridian Wealth Management LLC Sells 175 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,829 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mission Wealth Management LP raised its holdings in Blackstone by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 7,440 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,283,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 66.2% in the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,945 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,571 shares during the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,339,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $846,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 81,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $14,028,000 after purchasing an additional 18,404 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $152.08 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $170.52 and a 200-day moving average of $166.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. 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 yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 158.68%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value 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 $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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.