Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. Acquires 1,536 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 201,924 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,536 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for about 1.8% of Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $34,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bangor Savings Bank grew its position in Blackstone by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% in the 3rd 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 bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $173.55 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $125.30 billion, a PE ratio of 47.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $180.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $162.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 94.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, 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 through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Blackstone

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.