Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 7,516 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp decreased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 320,148 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 7,516 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $55,200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,790,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Investmark Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $156,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,970,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX opened at $151.29 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $110.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.68, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company’s 50 day moving average is $162.90 and its 200 day moving average is $167.69.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler upped their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Twelve 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 an average price target of $171.13.

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.