Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Stock Position Cut by First Financial Bankshares Inc

First Financial Bankshares Inc lowered its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 726,657 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 8,756 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises about 2.7% of First Financial Bankshares Inc's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. First Financial Bankshares Inc owned 0.10% of Blackstone worth $125,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2,185.4% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,901,000 after buying an additional 18,117 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 214.2% in the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,845,000 after purchasing an additional 15,205 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,169,526 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $179,089,000 after purchasing an additional 36,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Blackstone by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,229 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $10,053,000 after purchasing an additional 4,688 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

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Blackstone Trading Down 0.1 %

Blackstone stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $148.65. 8,381,116 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,280,093. 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $163.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.82 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock 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 boosted their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $171.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.