Lodestone Wealth Management LLC Has $1.79 Million Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Lodestone Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,668 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 451 shares during the period. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 763.0% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Halpern Financial Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 327.1% in the 3rd quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 252 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of BX traded up $1.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $127.58. 1,897,931 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,841,764. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.17 billion, a PE ratio of 69.72, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $79.92 and a 52 week high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The asset manager reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.16. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 17.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 2nd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 205.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 price objective (down previously from $140.00) on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $118.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on Blackstone from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $128.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 232 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total value of $6,268,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 393,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,294,783.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 232 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $127.08 per share, with a total value of $29,482.56. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.