Global Retirement Partners LLC Sells 1,933 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Global Retirement Partners LLC decreased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,368 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,933 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $7,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 15,357.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,201,150 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $6,433,220,000 after buying an additional 4,173,971 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 111.1% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 973,348 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $167,825,000 after buying an additional 512,165 shares in the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $67,472,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Blackstone by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,597,028,000 after acquiring an additional 348,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,272,227,000 after acquiring an additional 336,308 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of BX traded down $5.69 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $158.21. The stock had a trading volume of 4,662,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,336,160. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.23. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.82 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The firm has a market cap of $114.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.53. 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 (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. On average, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $172.38.

Blackstone 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.