V Square Quantitative Management LLC Sells 269 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC cut its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 18.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,213 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 269 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sather Financial Group Inc grew its holdings in Blackstone by 202.5% during the third quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $926,000 after purchasing an additional 4,050 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Aljian Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,951,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 2,185.4% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,901,000 after purchasing an additional 18,117 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,102,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $165.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $119.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $176.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $164.60. 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 results 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, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.77%.

Blackstone Company 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.