Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Sells 220,314 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lessened its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 57.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 166,209 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 220,314 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $28,658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $171.13.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.5 %

BX stock traded down $0.79 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $151.29. The company had a trading volume of 3,782,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,285,742. 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 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $110.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.68, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $162.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.69.

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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $1.44 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 158.68%.

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.