Metis Global Partners LLC Buys 1,423 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 29,450 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,423 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in Blackstone by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,597,028,000 after purchasing an additional 348,751 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,272,227,000 after buying an additional 336,308 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,931,411 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $602,017,000 after buying an additional 61,739 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,430,909 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $525,375,000 after buying an additional 116,367 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 6.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,155,068 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $330,006,000 after buying an additional 124,462 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.3 %

Blackstone stock opened at $161.01 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $116.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $171.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.23.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.