Stifel Financial Corp Sells 12,999 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Stifel Financial Corp cut its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 914,646 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 12,999 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned approximately 0.13% of Blackstone worth $157,703,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $1.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $132.80. The company had a trading volume of 4,663,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,764,258. 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 firm has a market cap of $96.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.58, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The company's 50-day moving average price is $141.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $164.19. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 112.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on BX shares. Citizens Jmp raised Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $154.82.

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.