Essex LLC Has $367,000 Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Essex LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,127 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 66 shares during the period. Essex LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $367,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 2.3% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,374 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reduced their target price on Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Down 2.5 %

BX opened at $170.11 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.86, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $178.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $163.48. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.82 and a twelve month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 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.