Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Director Ruth Porat Acquires 301 Shares

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.8 %

BX traded down $3.03 during trading on Thursday, reaching $163.83. The company had a trading volume of 3,198,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,296,318. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $174.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.04. The company has a market cap of $118.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.13, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 1.8% during the third quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,790,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Investmark Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 2.4% during the third quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted 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 worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 2.3% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.38.

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.