Wambolt & Associates LLC Decreases Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Wambolt & Associates LLC decreased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 19.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,412 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,808 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up 1.3% of Wambolt & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $316,257,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 2,057.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 844,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $145,653,000 after purchasing an additional 805,604 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 111.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 973,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $167,825,000 after acquiring an additional 512,165 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 51.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,430,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $248,723,000 after purchasing an additional 483,362 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.6 %

Blackstone stock opened at $152.13 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $110.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $163.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.59.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the business’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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BX. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. Citigroup reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.13.

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.