AIA Group Ltd Trims Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

AIA Group Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,333 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 1.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,790,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Investmark Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 6.5% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,970,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.13.

Blackstone Stock Down 4.3 %

BX stock opened at $138.26 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.82 and a 52-week 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 stock has a market capitalization of $100.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a 50-day moving average of $160.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.72.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted 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 return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company 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 represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.