Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by WealthPlan Investment Management LLC

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC lessened its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,623 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 3,590 shares during the quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,901,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 2,188.2% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,167 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 1,116 shares during the period. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 4.8% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,663 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 4.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 237,936 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $36,435,000 after purchasing an additional 9,668 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 18.9% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 898 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 125.0% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 27,688 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,240,000 after purchasing an additional 15,384 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $1.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $165.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 942,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,227,841. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $175.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.03. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $119.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (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 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $172.38.

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.