MWA Asset Management Trims Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

MWA Asset Management cut its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,088 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 64 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up 1.8% of MWA Asset Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. MWA Asset Management’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bangor Savings Bank raised its stake in Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price target on Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Down 2.5 %

BX stock opened at $170.11 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.86, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $178.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $163.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.77%.

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.