Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,333 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 376 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 88,244 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,215,000 after buying an additional 15,818 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 383,771 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $66,170,000 after buying an additional 8,844 shares in the last quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. United Bank now owns 10,910 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.13.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $138.26 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $100.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.09, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $160.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.72.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.