Wedbush Securities Inc. Sells 5,459 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Wedbush Securities Inc. reduced its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 23,138 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,459 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% during the third quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,790,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 6.5% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,970,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McAdam LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,687 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $124.68 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $156.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.03. The stock has a market cap of $90.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 158.68%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.06.

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.