Apollon Wealth Management LLC Sells 2,415 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 49,332 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,415 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $8,506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Bangor Savings Bank increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $170.11 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $178.78 and its 200-day moving average is $163.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $122.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup increased their target price on Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

About Blackstone

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.