Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Lowers Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. lessened its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,302 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,434 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,673,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 17,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,425 shares during the last quarter. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth $230,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in Blackstone by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 83,650 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,809,000 after acquiring an additional 5,930 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 23,815 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,647,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kercheville Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Kercheville Advisors LLC now owns 46,664 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,146,000 after acquiring an additional 4,880 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $157.27 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $113.55 billion, a PE ratio of 43.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.82 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.93.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released 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 net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. On average, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BX. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.