Viawealth LLC Sells 171 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Viawealth LLC lowered its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,685 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 171 shares during the quarter. Viawealth LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $808,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,597,028,000 after purchasing an additional 348,751 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,272,227,000 after buying an additional 336,308 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,045,143 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $697,464,000 after acquiring an additional 113,732 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 3.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,430,909 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $525,375,000 after purchasing an additional 116,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,155,068 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $330,006,000 after purchasing an additional 124,462 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $149.69 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $164.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.82 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 158.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.