Savant Capital LLC Sells 2,041 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Savant Capital LLC reduced its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,448 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,041 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 62,146 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,743 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,025,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 49,143 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,473,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,723 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 58,419 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,073,000 after buying an additional 2,883 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $164.80 on Wednesday. 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 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company’s 50-day moving average is $177.99 and its 200 day moving average is $164.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average 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.