M&T Bank Corp Reduces Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 244,868 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 3,168 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Blackstone were worth $42,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 84,089 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $14,499,000 after purchasing an additional 3,816 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 65,472 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,289,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290 shares in the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 11,359 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,958,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Abbot Financial Management Inc. lifted its stake in Blackstone by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Abbot Financial Management Inc. now owns 26,644 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,594,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $469,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX traded up $1.35 on Wednesday, reaching $152.08. 4,687,003 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,274,336. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.82 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $170.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.84. The stock has a market cap of $109.80 billion, a PE ratio of 41.90, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired 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 $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.