PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 14,960 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,154,566 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 14,960 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $199,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BX. Sather Financial Group Inc grew its stake in Blackstone by 202.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 4,050 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Aljian Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,951,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 2,185.4% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,901,000 after buying an additional 18,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $2,102,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased 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. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $145.12 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $169.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.76. 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 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.98, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were 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 3.97%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

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.