Westpac Banking Corp Sells 933 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Westpac Banking Corp lessened its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 25.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,665 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 933 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bangor Savings Bank increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Down 6.3 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $124.68 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $156.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.03. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.94 billion, a PE ratio of 34.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.62%. 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. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on BX. UBS Group raised shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.06.

Blackstone Company 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.