Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Sage Rhino Capital LLC

Sage Rhino Capital LLC lessened its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,661 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 139 shares during the period. Sage Rhino Capital LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,321,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sather Financial Group Inc raised its holdings in Blackstone by 202.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 4,050 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $201,000. Aljian Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,951,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2,185.4% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,901,000 after buying an additional 18,117 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,102,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $161.01 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $116.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $171.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.67. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 158.68%.

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.