Horizon Investments LLC Purchases 236 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Horizon Investments LLC boosted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,587 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Blackstone by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,597,028,000 after buying an additional 348,751 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,272,227,000 after buying an additional 336,308 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,045,143 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $697,464,000 after buying an additional 113,732 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,430,909 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $525,375,000 after buying an additional 116,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 6.1% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $146.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.82 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $164.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.29. The company has a market capitalization of $106.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.25, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. UBS Group raised Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.38.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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.