Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Grows Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 19.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 20,560 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,322 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,545,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Sather Financial Group Inc lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 202.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 4,050 shares in the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at $1,951,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2,185.4% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,901,000 after purchasing an additional 18,117 shares during the period. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $2,102,000. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 214.2% in the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,845,000 after buying an additional 15,205 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BX. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of BX stock opened at $138.02 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $167.98 and a 200 day moving average of $167.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.67 billion, a PE ratio of 38.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 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 directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.