Alliancebernstein L.P. Cuts Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 730,841 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 8,975 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.10% of Blackstone worth $126,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 214.2% in the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,845,000 after buying an additional 15,205 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Blackstone by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,053,000 after buying an additional 4,688 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 909,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $139,302,000 after acquiring an additional 51,897 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on BX shares. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.13.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $147.80 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $158.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.47. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $107.81 billion, a PE ratio of 40.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

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.