Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Act Two Investors LLC

Act Two Investors LLC trimmed its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,323 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up 1.7% of Act Two Investors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Act Two Investors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $8,571,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 7.5 %

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $127.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $92.68 billion, a PE ratio of 35.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $149.98 and a 200-day moving average of $165.80.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is a boost 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 dividend yield of 4.53%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on BX shares. 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 research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lowered their price target on Blackstone from $186.00 to $129.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group raised Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.22.

Blackstone Company 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.