J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Sells 1,105 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,710 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,105 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,916,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $165.09 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $119.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted 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 return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. 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 3.49%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 94.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on BX. StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

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.