Fiduciary Group LLC Reduces Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Fiduciary Group LLC trimmed its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 44,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,954 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $7,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bangor Savings Bank grew its position 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 last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $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 acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $149.69 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company has a market capitalization of $109.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.24, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced 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, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.85%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.