Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC Reduces Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,200 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,900 shares during the period. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bangor Savings Bank increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 3.3 %

BX stock opened at $141.01 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $165.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 158.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on BX. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. 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 report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.38.

Insider Activity 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 company insiders.

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.