Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Douglas Lane & Associates LLC

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lowered its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 707,350 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 33,135 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for approximately 1.7% of Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $121,961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bangor Savings Bank grew its stake in Blackstone by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone by 57.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 276 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BX. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $174.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.00.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of BX traded up $2.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $173.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 986,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,973,315. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.88 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $180.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.00. The stock has a market cap of $125.35 billion, a PE ratio of 59.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. On average, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.21%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.