Scotia Capital Inc. Sells 2,871 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Scotia Capital Inc. decreased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 72,745 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,871 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $12,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BX. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 214.2% during the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,845,000 after acquiring an additional 15,205 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Blackstone by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,053,000 after purchasing an additional 4,688 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 6.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 909,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $139,302,000 after buying an additional 51,897 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price 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. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Down 7.5 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $127.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $149.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.80.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 yield of 4.53%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $186.00 to $129.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Bank of America cut their price target on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com lowered Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.22.

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.