Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Wulff Hansen & CO.

Wulff Hansen & CO. cut its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,878 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 973 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up 8.8% of Wulff Hansen & CO.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Wulff Hansen & CO.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $9,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $335,000. Stokes Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $598,000. Compass Ion Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 25,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,466,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 166,554 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,717,000 after purchasing an additional 6,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 60.2% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,599 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,480 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.1 %

BX stock opened at $146.11 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $164.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.29. 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 $106.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. 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 (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BX. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus 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.