Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Holdings Lifted by Baxter Bros Inc.

Baxter Bros Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BX. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 214.2% during the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,845,000 after purchasing an additional 15,205 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Blackstone by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,053,000 after purchasing an additional 4,688 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 260.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 8,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,272,000 after buying an additional 5,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 6.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 909,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $139,302,000 after acquiring an additional 51,897 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $152.13 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $110.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $163.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.59.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released 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 net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BX. Citigroup reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.13.

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.