Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Marion Wealth Management

Marion Wealth Management decreased its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 17,933 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 278 shares during the quarter. Marion Wealth Management’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,092,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 12,192.7% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $908,797,000 after acquiring an additional 7,281,128 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 15,357.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,201,150 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,433,220,000 after buying an additional 4,173,971 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 213.5% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,375,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $170,345,000 after buying an additional 937,084 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 468.4% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,107,547 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $137,114,000 after acquiring an additional 912,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castleark Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the third quarter worth about $67,472,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on BX shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $170.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX stock traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $165.70. 3,273,999 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,784,926. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.88 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.64 billion, a PE ratio of 56.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a 50-day moving average of $180.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $156.98.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 118.21%.

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.