Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Sells 3,669 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC reduced its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 507,425 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,669 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for about 1.6% of Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC owned 0.07% of Blackstone worth $87,490,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. Bangor Savings Bank raised 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on BX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. UBS Group increased their target price on Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $158.21 on Monday. 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $173.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $165.74.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. As a group, equities 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. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.68%.

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.