Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Stock Holdings Lessened by Per Stirling Capital Management LLC.

Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. trimmed its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 17.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,127 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,298 shares during the quarter. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $802,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 86.2% during the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 763.0% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.65.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE BX traded up $2.63 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $121.71. The stock had a trading volume of 2,611,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,607,256. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.10 and a 12 month high of $133.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $86.98 billion, a PE ratio of 42.08, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $123.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.11.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.98. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 117.31%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 219 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.