Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Takes $326,000 Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,893 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $326,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BX. Bangor Savings Bank raised its stake in Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Citigroup reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.3 %

BX stock opened at $145.12 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $105.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $169.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.23. 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 (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (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%. On average, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

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.