Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 57.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 166,209 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 220,314 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $28,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BX. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 58.1% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 6,734 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $66,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 8.7% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,676 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 22.2% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 17,238 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,640,000 after acquiring an additional 3,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $631,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE BX opened at $148.65 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.82 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $108.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.95, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $163.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.08.

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 net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. Equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler boosted 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.13.

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.