Argent Capital Management LLC Sells 11,061 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Argent Capital Management LLC cut its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 562,671 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 11,061 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up about 2.7% of Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Argent Capital Management LLC owned about 0.08% of Blackstone worth $97,016,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BX. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 58,777 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,277,000 after acquiring an additional 2,002 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Blackstone by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,254,342 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $155,288,000 after acquiring an additional 142,026 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance increased its position in Blackstone by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 2,642 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $202,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in Blackstone by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 84,898 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,258,000 after acquiring an additional 5,962 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.56.

Blackstone Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $175.12 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.88 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $180.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.59. The company has a market capitalization of $126.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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.