Hodges Capital Management Inc. Cuts Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 19.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,275 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,050 shares during the quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $737,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 111.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 973,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $167,825,000 after acquiring an additional 512,165 shares during the period. Rice Partnership LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $201,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,482 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Financial Partners Group Inc grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Financial Partners Group Inc now owns 3,927 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $677,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 2,117 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction 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 represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $173.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $180.15 and a 200-day moving average of $162.63. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.82 and a 52-week high of $200.96. 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, 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 expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on BX shares. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America boosted 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Company 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.