Samalin Investment Counsel LLC Sells 250 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Samalin Investment Counsel LLC lessened its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,253 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mosley Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 3,974 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 77.9% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 13,700 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,362,000 after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $41,691,000. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $347,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Blackstone by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 441,877 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $76,188,000 after acquiring an additional 35,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $148.65 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $163.53 and a 200 day moving average of $167.28. The company has a market capitalization of $108.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.95, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. 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 report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.13.

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.