Cullinan Associates Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Cullinan Associates Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 61.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,100 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 16,342 shares during the period. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 15,357.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,201,150 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,433,220,000 after purchasing an additional 4,173,971 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 111.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 973,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $167,825,000 after purchasing an additional 512,165 shares during the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at about $67,472,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Blackstone by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,597,028,000 after purchasing an additional 348,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,272,227,000 after acquiring an additional 336,308 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $173.55 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $180.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $162.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.81, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.82 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group raised their price objective on Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.