IFP Advisors Inc Grows Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 190.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,181 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,708 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $416,000. Colonial River Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 4,151 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $716,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 316.9% during the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 87,822 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,142,000 after purchasing an additional 66,759 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $472,000. Finally, World Equity Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $289,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought 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 owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on BX. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $159.26 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $114.99 billion, a PE ratio of 43.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.07. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.82 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 158.68%.

About Blackstone

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.