Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Has $221.74 Million Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. reduced its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,693,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 12,286 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of Blackstone worth $221,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 763.0% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Family CFO Inc bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $116.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $120.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.92.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $123.47 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $88.24 billion, a PE ratio of 67.47, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $79.92 and a 1-year high of $133.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $126.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $117.41.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The asset manager reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.16. Blackstone had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 17.30%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.07 EPS. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 205.46%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total value of $6,268,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 393,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,294,783.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total value of $6,268,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 393,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,294,783.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total transaction of $3,694,498.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 982,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $125,773,399.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.