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

SFE Investment Counsel lessened its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 37,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,410 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up 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 filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. Bangor Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $160.90 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.82 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The business’s fifty day moving average is $177.07 and its 200 day moving average is $164.14. 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 $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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 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%. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

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.