Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. Sells 850 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,205 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 850 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises 1.8% of Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,449,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in 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 period. Castleark Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter worth about $67,472,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Blackstone by 1.2% during 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,272,227,000 after purchasing an additional 336,308 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 15,294.1% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 236,453 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $36,208,000 after purchasing an additional 234,917 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. 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 price target of $172.38.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought 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 $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $157.22 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.82 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $113.51 billion, a PE ratio of 43.31, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $172.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.12.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. As a group, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 158.68%.

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.