Appleton Partners Inc. MA Sells 4,509 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA lowered its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,772 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,509 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for 1.2% of Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $16,513,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $233,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,047,000. SMART Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 206.9% during the fourth quarter. SMART Wealth LLC now owns 4,296 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 2,896 shares during the period. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $269,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Blackstone by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 81,934 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $14,127,000 after acquiring an additional 6,667 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $170.11 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $122.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $178.78 and a 200-day moving average of $163.28. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.82 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.77%.

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.