Carret Asset Management LLC Reduces Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Carret Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,891 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 540 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up approximately 0.9% of Carret Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $8,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,597,028,000 after purchasing an additional 348,751 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,272,227,000 after purchasing an additional 336,308 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,045,143 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $697,464,000 after purchasing an additional 113,732 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,430,909 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $525,375,000 after purchasing an additional 116,367 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,155,068 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $330,006,000 after purchasing an additional 124,462 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Down 2.9 %

NYSE BX opened at $136.47 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $166.85. The firm has a market cap of $99.54 billion, a PE ratio of 37.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.22%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.