Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA

Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA lessened its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 24.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,966 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 9,480 shares during the period. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BX. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 15,357.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,201,150 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,433,220,000 after acquiring an additional 4,173,971 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 111.1% in 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 last quarter. Castleark Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $67,472,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Blackstone by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,597,028,000 after acquiring an additional 348,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,272,227,000 after buying an additional 336,308 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE BX opened at $170.90 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month 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 company has a market capitalization of $123.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $180.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $162.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 94.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the 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 trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.