WBH Advisory Inc. Lowers Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

WBH Advisory Inc. lessened its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 23.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,483 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,096 shares during the period. WBH Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on BX shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of BX stock opened at $165.09 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.82 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $119.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $176.09 and a 200-day moving average of $164.60.

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, 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.77%.

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.