Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Sells 98 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,054 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 98 shares during the quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on BX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $138.02 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $167.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.25. 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 company has a market cap of $100.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.