Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Position Boosted by Bank OZK

Bank OZK lifted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,321 shares during the quarter. Bank OZK’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BX. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,790,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, McAdam LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,687 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $161.01 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $171.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $166.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.25 billion, a PE ratio of 44.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. 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 twelve month low of $115.82 and a twelve month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio 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.