Canal Capital Management LLC Has $15.99 Million Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Canal Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 92,724 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 12,992 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up approximately 2.6% of Canal Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Canal Capital Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $15,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,341,300 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,637,266,000 after purchasing an additional 444,887 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,987,702 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,032,400,000 after buying an additional 371,677 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $974,448,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,045,143 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $697,464,000 after acquiring an additional 113,732 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $1.75 on Friday, hitting $132.80. 4,663,070 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,760,186. 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 $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $142.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $164.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.87 billion, a PE ratio of 36.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on BX shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen cut their target price 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. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $154.82.

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.