Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC Trims Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Bangor Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in 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 position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX opened at $145.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.78 billion, a PE ratio of 39.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. On average, research analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised 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. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen investment 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, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.