Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Acquires New Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $532,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Bangor Savings Bank increased 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 acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $145.12 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.23. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The firm has a market cap of $105.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.98, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. On average, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on BX. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company 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.