Becker Capital Management Inc. Has $16.20 Million Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Becker Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,977 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 2,506 shares during the quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $16,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BX. Morse Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 11,232 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,720,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.5% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter worth $5,163,000. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 25,865 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,961,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 69,523 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $154.82.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock traded up $4.23 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $137.62. 4,968,025 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,773,954. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.91, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $138.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $163.34.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 of the company's stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,000,005. The trade was a 24,898.76 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.