Blueshift Asset Management LLC Sells 7,427 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 67.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,598 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 7,427 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, 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. 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.7 %

BX stock opened at $148.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $108.48 billion, a PE ratio of 40.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $163.86 and its 200 day moving average is $167.04. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $1.44 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.68%.

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.