Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Becker Capital Management Inc.

Becker Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 93,977 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,506 shares during the period. Becker Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $16,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,109,000. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 214.2% during the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,845,000 after acquiring an additional 15,205 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,053,000 after purchasing an additional 4,688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.82.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX opened at $133.45 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 $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.84. The firm has a market cap of $97.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.76, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

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.