Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. Sells 94 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,658 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 94 shares during the period. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 1.8% during the third quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.3% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,374 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX opened at $174.99 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $126.34 billion, a PE ratio of 48.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.82 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. On average, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 14th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.