Rational Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Rational Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,400 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the period. Rational Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bangor Savings Bank raised its stake in Blackstone by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $165.09 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96. The business has a fifty day moving average of $176.09 and a 200 day moving average of $164.44. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $119.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.48, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $1.44 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on BX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lowered their price target on Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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.