Amundi Has $248.72 Million Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Amundi boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 51.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,430,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 483,362 shares during the period. Amundi’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $248,723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $316,257,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2,057.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 844,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $145,653,000 after buying an additional 805,604 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 111.1% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 973,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $167,825,000 after buying an additional 512,165 shares in the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $67,472,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,597,028,000 after buying an additional 348,751 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the company’s 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:BX opened at $145.12 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96. 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 $105.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.23.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

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.