2,956 Shares in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Purchased by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,956 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $510,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,790,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Investmark Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 2.4% in the third quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,374 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 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, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $157.27 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.93. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $113.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current 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 $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

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.