Opinicus Capital Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Opinicus Capital Inc. cut its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,974 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 738 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises approximately 2.0% of Opinicus Capital Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Opinicus Capital Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sather Financial Group Inc boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 202.5% in the third quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $926,000 after purchasing an additional 4,050 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter worth about $201,000. Aljian Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,951,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 2,185.4% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,901,000 after buying an additional 18,117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.2% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,169,526 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $179,089,000 after acquiring an additional 36,343 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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 report on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Down 2.5 %

BX opened at $170.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $122.82 billion, a PE ratio of 46.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $178.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.28.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. 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 dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 94.77%.

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.