7,896 Shares in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Purchased by DRW Securities LLC

DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 7,896 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,361,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 214.2% during the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,845,000 after acquiring an additional 15,205 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Blackstone by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,053,000 after acquiring an additional 4,688 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 909,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $139,302,000 after acquiring an additional 51,897 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.22.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX opened at $137.94 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $100.62 billion, a PE ratio of 38.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. 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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $150.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.02. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued 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%. On average, 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 given a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. 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.