AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Takes Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 3,286 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $566,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter worth about $631,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in Blackstone by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 948 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,155,068 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $330,006,000 after buying an additional 124,462 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 8.7% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 18,367 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,813,000 after acquiring an additional 1,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 3,740 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $144.81 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96. 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 market cap of $105.62 billion, a PE ratio of 39.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.38.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $1.44 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.13.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.