Cozad Asset Management Inc. Sells 3,556 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 96,957 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,556 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up 1.6% of Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $16,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.8% in the third quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,790,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Investmark Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.5% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McAdam LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,687 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $141.01 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $102.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.85, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $165.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-year high of $200.96.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on BX. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.