Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Purchases 7,544 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 118.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,924 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 7,544 shares during the quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $316,257,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2,057.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 844,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $145,653,000 after purchasing an additional 805,604 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 111.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 973,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $167,825,000 after purchasing an additional 512,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 51.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,430,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $248,723,000 after buying an additional 483,362 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $151.29 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.68, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $162.90 and its 200 day moving average is $167.69.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on BX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Company 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.