Waterloo Capital L.P. Lowers Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Waterloo Capital L.P. reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 32,714 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,735 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on BX. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX opened at $124.68 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.82 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $156.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $90.94 billion, a PE ratio of 34.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.62%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 158.68%.

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.