Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 111.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 973,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $167,825,000 after purchasing an additional 512,165 shares during the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $67,472,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,597,028,000 after acquiring an additional 348,751 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 2.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,272,227,000 after acquiring an additional 336,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 15,294.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 236,453 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $36,208,000 after purchasing an additional 234,917 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $158.21 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $173.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $165.23. The firm has a market cap of $114.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.53. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. On average, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on 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.