Private Trust Co. NA Cuts Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Private Trust Co. NA lessened its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,173 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 560 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 33.2% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 5,019 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $865,000 after buying an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $219,000. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 116,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $20,115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,335 shares in the last quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 7,111 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 122,080 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $21,049,000 after purchasing an additional 12,360 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of Blackstone 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $157.52 on Friday. 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 $171.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.39, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

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.