Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Stock Holdings Lifted by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 100,801 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,255 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $17,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its position in Blackstone by 187.5% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Trading Down 4.1 %

Blackstone stock opened at $139.24 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $168.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced 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%. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.14%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

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.