JNBA Financial Advisors Trims Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

JNBA Financial Advisors trimmed its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,272 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 87 shares during the quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors’ holdings in Blackstone were worth $392,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,389 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $19,477,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Blackstone by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 36,461 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,664,000 after purchasing an additional 9,375 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 18,036 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,110,000 after buying an additional 1,171 shares during the period. Finally, Centerpoint Advisory Group acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $275,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on BX. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company 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 issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $165.09 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $176.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.28. 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 has a market cap of $119.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its 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 return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 94.77%.

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.