Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Bought by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Blackstone by 32.1% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $176.92 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $180.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $162.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.74 billion, a PE ratio of 60.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly 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 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. On average, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 158.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.13.

About Blackstone

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.