Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Community Financial Services Group LLC

Community Financial Services Group LLC reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 17.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,665 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Augustine Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone by 134.0% in the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,954 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,234,000 after purchasing an additional 7,418 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,102,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 27,553 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,751,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares during the period. Finally, Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,045 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,042,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $164.80 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $177.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.00. The company has a market cap of $118.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53.

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%. As a group, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 dividend yield of 3.50%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays decreased their target price on Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

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.