Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Acquired by Ashton Thomas Securities LLC

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,127 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $316,257,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 2,057.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 844,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $145,653,000 after acquiring an additional 805,604 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 111.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 973,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $167,825,000 after purchasing an additional 512,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 51.0% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,430,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $248,723,000 after buying an additional 483,362 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought 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 in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.13.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $152.13 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.82 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a market capitalization of $110.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $163.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.59.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 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.