Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Cottage Street Advisors LLC

Cottage Street Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 65,973 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 845 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises about 5.9% of Cottage Street Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Cottage Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $11,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 214.2% during the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,845,000 after purchasing an additional 15,205 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Blackstone by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,053,000 after buying an additional 4,688 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 260.0% during the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 8,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 5,998 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 909,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $139,302,000 after buying an additional 51,897 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:BX opened at $151.29 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 one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $110.35 billion, a PE ratio of 41.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.69.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. 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 3.81%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 158.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.13.

Blackstone 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.