First Dallas Securities Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

First Dallas Securities Inc. lessened its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,075 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 247 shares during the quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $173.55 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $125.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $180.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $162.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.77%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BX. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America upped their target price on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

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.