Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,200 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 2,900 shares during the period. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sather Financial Group Inc lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 202.5% in the third quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 4,050 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at about $1,951,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2,185.4% in the third 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 period. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,102,000. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 214.2% during the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,845,000 after buying an additional 15,205 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of BX traded down $1.67 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $146.11. The company had a trading volume of 3,362,188 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,258,928. The company has a market capitalization of $106.58 billion, a PE ratio of 40.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96. The company's fifty day moving average price is $164.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.29.

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Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone's payout ratio is 158.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BX. UBS Group upgraded Blackstone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $172.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.