Prudential Financial Inc. Decreases Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 370,073 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 52,678 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.05% of Blackstone worth $63,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BX. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% in the third quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,790,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 2.4% during the third quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.5% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $156,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McAdam LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,687 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.13.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $152.13 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The company’s fifty day moving average is $163.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. Equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

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.