Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by United Capital Financial Advisors LLC

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 37.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,020 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 9,567 shares during the quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Bangor Savings Bank increased its stake in Blackstone by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $130.26 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $95.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.88, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $145.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.91.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on BX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective 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. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, December 19th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.72.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.