Wedbush Securities Inc. Has $3.99 Million Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Wedbush Securities Inc. trimmed its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,138 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,459 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Down 6.3 %

Shares of BX stock opened at $124.68 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.82 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $156.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.03. 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 company has a market capitalization of $90.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.35, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. Research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $1.44 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group raised Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.