Motco Sells 818 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Motco reduced its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 45,621 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 818 shares during the quarter. Motco’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $7,866,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 33.2% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 5,019 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $865,000 after buying an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $219,000. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 116,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $20,115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,335 shares in the last quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 7,111 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 122,080 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $21,049,000 after purchasing an additional 12,360 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX opened at $157.52 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $171.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $113.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

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.