ProVise Management Group LLC Decreases Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

ProVise Management Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,004 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 3,270 shares during the period. ProVise Management Group LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Bangor Savings Bank increased its stake in Blackstone by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BX. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group raised Blackstone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, 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 report 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $171.13.

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Insider Activity

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 stock was purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock traded down $0.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $148.65. The stock had a trading volume of 8,381,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,280,093. The company's 50 day moving average price is $163.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.28. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $108.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67.

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, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Blackstone Company 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.