First County Bank CT Sells 135 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

First County Bank CT lessened its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,185 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 57.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 276 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $39,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Down 2.0 %

NYSE BX traded down $3.54 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $171.25. 1,727,535 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,964,951. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.88 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $180.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.66. The firm has a market cap of $123.64 billion, a PE ratio of 58.85, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 118.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $188.00 to $195.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $174.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted 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. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.00.

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.