Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC Reduces Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC decreased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $517,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in 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 during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.3 %

BX opened at $145.12 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.98, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $169.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.76. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.82 and a twelve month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued 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 yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.