Truist Financial Corp Sells 11,686 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Truist Financial Corp trimmed its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 214,534 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 11,686 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $36,990,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bangor Savings Bank grew its holdings in Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:BX opened at $166.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $175.69 and a 200 day moving average of $164.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.89, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

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.