Bragg Financial Advisors Inc Trims Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Bragg Financial Advisors Inc reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 59,390 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 2,971 shares during the quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc's holdings in Blackstone were worth $10,240,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bangor Savings Bank increased its stake in Blackstone by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $155.72.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:BX traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $130.26. 4,576,278 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,719,920. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $95.01 billion, a PE ratio of 35.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $145.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.91.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.