SFE Investment Counsel Cuts Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

SFE Investment Counsel lessened its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 41,407 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 320 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up about 1.3% of SFE Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 32.1% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.1% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 2,240 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,222 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $187,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Moseley Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone by 0.7% in the second quarter. Moseley Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,239 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,391,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on BX. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays increased their price target on Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Thirteen investment 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.38.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $169.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.07, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $151.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.04. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.43 and a fifty-two week high of $175.94.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 121.55%.

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.