SFE Investment Counsel Sells 3,410 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

SFE Investment Counsel reduced its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,410 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up approximately 1.4% of SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avestar Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 5,791 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $998,000 after buying an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $234,000. Hemington Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 679 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Clarity Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Clarity Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,004 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Blackstone by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,563 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 4,469 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 2.4 %

BX stock opened at $160.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $177.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $164.14. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.82 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.33, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted 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 net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $1.44 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler raised 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. Barclays cut their price objective on Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.