Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. Sells 440 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 20.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,736 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 440 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $299,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Bangor Savings Bank increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $145.12 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $169.33 and its 200-day moving average is $166.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.98, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 158.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.38.

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.