CHICAGO TRUST Co NA Sells 334 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

CHICAGO TRUST Co NA reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,721 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 334 shares during the quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bangor Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 57.7% during the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 276 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of BX traded down $1.16 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $163.69. 1,243,799 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,480,671. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $180.73 and its 200-day moving average is $156.98. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.88 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.