Fisher Asset Management LLC Acquires 98 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BX. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,094 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,355,000 after acquiring an additional 3,271 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 27.5% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 17,438 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,670,000 after acquiring an additional 3,762 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $68,000. Catalina Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 2,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,084 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,219,000 after buying an additional 1,459 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 4.2 %

NYSE BX opened at $145.72 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $169.90 and a 200-day moving average of $166.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 158.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on BX. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.