PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,154,566 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 14,960 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned 0.16% of Blackstone worth $199,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 187.5% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $172.38.

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Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $145.12. 6,476,692 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,295,543. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $169.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.00. 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 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

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.