Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV Trims Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV lowered its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,908 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 462 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises approximately 0.9% of Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 50.5% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 144,781 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $22,170,000 after acquiring an additional 48,601 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 30.3% in the third quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 4,949 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $758,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its position in Blackstone by 27.1% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,911 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $905,000 after acquiring an additional 1,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 47.7% during the 3rd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,078 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,147,000 after purchasing an additional 8,749 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.8 %

BX opened at $163.83 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $174.18 and its 200-day moving average is $165.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.82 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

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, beating 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%. Analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid 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 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 158.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of 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 research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.