TCW Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

TCW Group Inc. trimmed its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 80.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,133 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 41,136 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,747,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redmond Asset Management LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 15,006 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,587,000 after purchasing an additional 943 shares during the period. Oxbow Advisors LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 24,736 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,265,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Indie Asset Partners LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $207,000. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its position in Blackstone by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 73,856 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,734,000 after purchasing an additional 5,057 shares during the period. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $157.27 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.32, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $172.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $165.93.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released 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 net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

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.