Equitable Trust Co. Has $542,000 Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Equitable Trust Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,142 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 330 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of BX stock opened at $164.80 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $118.98 billion, a PE ratio of 45.40, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $177.99 and its 200 day moving average is $164.00. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.82 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. 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.