Ellsworth Advisors LLC Has $5.21 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC cut its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 39,792 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,551 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for approximately 1.6% of Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Halpern Financial Inc. grew its position in Blackstone by 327.1% in the third quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 252 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 763.0% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc bought a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer cut shares of Blackstone from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $118.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.53.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BX traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $131.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,132,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,326,999. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $79.29 and a 52 week high of $133.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $93.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $125.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.00.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The asset manager reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.16. Blackstone had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 17.30%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.92 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 5th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 205.46%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total value of $3,694,498.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 982,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now owns 982,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 232 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476 in the last 90 days. 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.