Ellis Investment Partners LLC Has $9.38 Million Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Ellis Investment Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,422 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 423 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up 1.8% of Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $9,383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 2,188.2% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $179,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 237,936 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $36,435,000 after acquiring an additional 9,668 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 125.0% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 27,688 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,240,000 after acquiring an additional 15,384 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.1% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 2,240 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 75,267 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,526,000 after acquiring an additional 1,468 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $165.09 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $176.09 and its 200 day moving average is $164.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $119.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.48, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted 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 return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 94.77%.

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.