Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lessened its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,025 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% during 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. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 57.7% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.50.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $165.70 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.88 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.94, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $180.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $157.27.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a $0.86 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.21%.

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.