Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Ellsworth Advisors LLC

Ellsworth Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 39,792 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,551 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for about 1.6% of Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Saxon Interests Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $244,000. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $522,000. MJP Associates Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 4,253 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $557,000 after buying an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 14,322 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,875,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 127,959 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $16,752,000 after purchasing an additional 6,601 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:BX traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $131.37. The stock had a trading volume of 3,132,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,326,999. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $79.29 and a 1-year high of $133.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.00. The company has a market cap of $93.88 billion, a PE ratio of 71.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The asset manager reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.48 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 17.30%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.92 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 2nd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 205.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BX shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Blackstone from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total transaction of $3,694,498.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 982,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total transaction of $3,694,498.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 982,221 shares in the company, valued at $125,773,399.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total value of $6,268,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 393,143 shares in the company, valued at $50,294,783.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.