Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Sells 3,518 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC lowered its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 67.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,730 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,518 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 268.6% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 17,463 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,674,000 after acquiring an additional 12,725 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,448 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 13,895 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,709 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its stake in Blackstone by 49.0% during the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 23,728 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,633,000 after buying an additional 7,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 1.1% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 30,671 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,697,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen raised 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 research report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.13.

Blackstone Stock Up 3.5 %

Blackstone stock opened at $147.80 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $107.81 billion, a PE ratio of 40.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.82 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $158.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.47.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone 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.