Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 20,652 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 889,046 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 20,652 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Blackstone worth $153,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bangor Savings Bank grew 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 last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $165.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.48, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The business has a 50-day moving average of $176.09 and a 200-day moving average of $164.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 94.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BX shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays cut their price target on Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

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.