Baxter Bros Inc. Purchases 124 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Baxter Bros Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Baxter Bros Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its stake in Blackstone by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.6 %

NYSE BX opened at $152.13 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.82 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $163.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.97 billion, a PE ratio of 41.91, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued 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 return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. Equities 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. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.13.

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.