Retirement Investment Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 1,169 Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Retirement Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,169 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth $631,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 6.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,155,068 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $330,006,000 after buying an additional 124,462 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 18,367 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,813,000 after buying an additional 1,466 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 28,505 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,365,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.7% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 138,934 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $21,275,000 after purchasing an additional 2,331 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $138.26 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $160.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $100.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 158.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.13.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 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, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.