Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. Sells 320 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. lowered its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 435,651 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 320 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises approximately 2.0% of Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. owned 0.06% of Blackstone worth $75,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $316,257,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 2,057.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 844,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $145,653,000 after acquiring an additional 805,604 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 512,165 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in Blackstone by 51.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,430,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $248,723,000 after purchasing an additional 483,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castleark Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $67,472,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE BX opened at $140.46 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $167.34 and its 200 day moving average is $167.06. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.82 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $102.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. 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 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 net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.10%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler raised 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. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

About Blackstone

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.