Sierra Capital LLC Sells 10,714 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Sierra Capital LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 31.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,015 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 10,714 shares during the period. Sierra Capital LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bangor Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.7 %

BX stock opened at $157.27 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $172.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $165.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.32, a PEG 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share 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 issued a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.38.

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.