Mizuho Securities USA LLC Buys 21,737 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 46.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 68,430 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,737 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $11,799,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 101,984 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $17,584,000 after buying an additional 690 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in Blackstone by 658.9% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 20,383 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,514,000 after buying an additional 17,697 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments grew its position in Blackstone by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 1,696 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,721 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $148.65 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $108.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.95, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $163.53 and its 200 day moving average is $167.08. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.82 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BX shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.