Eagle Ridge Investment Management Trims Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Eagle Ridge Investment Management reduced its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,164 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 93 shares during the quarter. Eagle Ridge Investment Management’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 2,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $285,000. Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its stake in Blackstone by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 6,852 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 24,722 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,262,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.2 %

Blackstone stock opened at $174.50 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $179.07 and a 200 day moving average of $163.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BX. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.38.

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.