one8zero8 LLC Purchases Shares of 70,275 Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

one8zero8 LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 70,275 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $12,117,000. Blackstone accounts for about 2.6% of one8zero8 LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bangor Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $141.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $102.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $165.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.02. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its 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%. On average, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. 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 dividend yield of 4.08%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.68%.

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.