United Bank Raises Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

United Bank boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 10,910 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,378 shares during the period. United Bank’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,881,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,790,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.5% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $156,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,970,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 4.3 %

Blackstone stock opened at $138.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap 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. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $160.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.55. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group raised Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.13.

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.