1,202 Shares in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Bought by Indie Asset Partners LLC

Indie Asset Partners LLC bought a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,202 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 73,856 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,734,000 after buying an additional 5,057 shares during the period. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. First Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 1,690 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $381,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 266,414 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $45,935,000 after purchasing an additional 39,542 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $158.21 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $165.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

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.