Bank of Montreal Can Sells 116,114 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Bank of Montreal Can trimmed its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,077,273 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 116,114 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.15% of Blackstone worth $185,743,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Morse Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 11,232 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,720,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 29.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 246,998 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $37,823,000 after acquiring an additional 56,559 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 25.3% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,445 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,203,000 after acquiring an additional 5,536 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 28,456 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,357,000 after purchasing an additional 982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,225,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $127.19. The stock had a trading volume of 7,805,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,689,276. 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 stock has a market cap of $92.77 billion, a PE ratio of 35.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $149.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $186.00 to $129.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $157.22.

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.