Wulff Hansen & CO. Sells 973 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Wulff Hansen & CO. trimmed its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,878 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 973 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for about 8.8% of Wulff Hansen & CO.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Wulff Hansen & CO.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $9,462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. AMG National Trust Bank acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $233,000. Drive Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $214,000. Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 58.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 6,734 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474 shares in the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 57.8% in the 3rd quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,013 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vertex Planning Partners LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $338,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of Blackstone 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BX shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE BX opened at $146.11 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $164.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.25, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

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.