Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Stock Position Lifted by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $749,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BX. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 19.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,094 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,355,000 after purchasing an additional 3,271 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 27.5% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 17,438 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,670,000 after buying an additional 3,762 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at $68,000. Catalina Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 18.1% in the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 2,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 4.5% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,084 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,219,000 after buying an additional 1,459 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $145.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.82 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $169.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $166.69. The firm has a market cap of $105.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.14, 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 earnings per share 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%. Analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

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.