Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Meitav Investment House Ltd.

Meitav Investment House Ltd. lessened its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,091 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 939 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,567,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BX. Bangor Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $166.81 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $120.44 billion, a PE ratio of 45.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $174.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.04. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.82 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 158.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. 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 report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Blackstone 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.