Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Director Ruth Porat Buys 301 Shares

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $158.21 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.48. 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 has a market capitalization of $114.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued 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 return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. Analysts anticipate 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 paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BX. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 50.5% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 144,781 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,170,000 after purchasing an additional 48,601 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,220 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,465,000 after acquiring an additional 4,936 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone by 5.3% in the third quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 1,864 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 10.4% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 15,036 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,303,000 after purchasing an additional 1,421 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

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.