WealthTrak Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 355 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $61,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter worth approximately $631,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 948 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 6.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,155,068 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $330,006,000 after acquiring an additional 124,462 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 8.7% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 18,367 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,813,000 after acquiring an additional 1,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 28,505 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,365,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Blackstone Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of BX stock opened at $138.26 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $160.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.37. 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 company has a market capitalization of $100.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Twelve equities 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.13.

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.