ProVise Management Group LLC Cuts Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

ProVise Management Group LLC reduced its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,004 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,270 shares during the quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $2,901,000 after acquiring an additional 18,117 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 214.2% during the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,845,000 after buying an additional 15,205 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,169,526 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $179,089,000 after acquiring an additional 36,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Blackstone by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,053,000 after acquiring an additional 4,688 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $146.11 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a 50-day moving average of $164.85 and a 200 day moving average of $167.29. The firm has a market cap of $106.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.25, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.