Private Portfolio Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Private Portfolio Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,451 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Private Portfolio Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $279,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 17,954 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,096,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $587,000. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 45,709 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,881,000 after buying an additional 13,882 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,341,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,637,266,000 after buying an additional 444,887 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $147.80 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $158.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.47. The stock has a market cap of $107.81 billion, a PE ratio of 40.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly 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 research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. 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 3.90%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on BX. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.13.

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.