Gradient Capital Advisors LLC Has $756,000 Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Gradient Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,383 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 104 shares during the period. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $756,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BX. Augustine Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 134.0% in the fourth quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,954 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,234,000 after acquiring an additional 7,418 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $2,102,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 27,553 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,751,000 after buying an additional 594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,045 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,042,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 2.3 %

BX opened at $164.80 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $177.99 and a 200 day moving average of $164.00. 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 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $118.98 billion, a PE ratio of 45.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price 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. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

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.