Rhumbline Advisers Sells 9,373 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Rhumbline Advisers lowered its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,296,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 9,373 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.18% of Blackstone worth $223,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Center for Financial Planning Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 770 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Vicus Capital bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $330,000. Banque Pictet & Cie SA grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1,629.2% during the fourth quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 31,472 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,426,000 after purchasing an additional 29,652 shares during the last quarter. First Merchants Corp raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 2,841 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $490,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $216,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX stock opened at $165.09 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $176.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $164.11. The firm has a market cap of $119.20 billion, a PE ratio of 45.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 158.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America upped their price target on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

About Blackstone

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.