NewEdge Wealth LLC Sells 12,646 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

NewEdge Wealth LLC reduced its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 644,685 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 12,646 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up about 1.9% of NewEdge Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. NewEdge Wealth LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Blackstone worth $111,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in Blackstone by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 61,905 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,674,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Fjell Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,190,000. Advisor OS LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 3,329 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 112.9% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 41,171 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,099,000 after buying an additional 21,831 shares during the period. Finally, Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 9,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,684,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $159.26 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $114.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.82 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $166.07.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. 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 is currently 158.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price target 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 shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.