Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc Sells 189 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc lessened its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 189 shares during the period. Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $485,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BX. Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in shares of 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 bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $157.22 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $172.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

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.