Anchor Investment Management LLC Has $407,000 Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Anchor Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,360 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,790,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,970,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,687 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its stake in Blackstone by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 11,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,903,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $129.51 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $94.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $146.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.07.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.72.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.