abrdn plc Sells 75,174 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

abrdn plc reduced its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 17.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 348,417 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 75,174 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $60,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,815 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 201,924 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,816,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536 shares during the last quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 106,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $18,277,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 111.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 973,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $167,825,000 after purchasing an additional 512,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rice Partnership LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $201,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.5 %

BX stock opened at $170.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. 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 50-day moving average price of $179.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $162.89. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96.

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 net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI lifted 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. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently 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.