Motco Sells 818 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Motco trimmed its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 45,621 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 818 shares during the quarter. Motco’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $7,866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sather Financial Group Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 202.5% during the third quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 4,050 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter worth $201,000. Aljian Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at about $1,951,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 2,185.4% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,901,000 after purchasing an additional 18,117 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,102,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $157.52 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $113.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.39, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $171.97 and a 200 day moving average of $166.01.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on BX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company 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.