Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Purchased by Harbor Advisors LLC

Harbor Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 77.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,700 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Harbor Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Bangor Savings Bank grew its holdings in Blackstone by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $148.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.43 billion, a PE ratio of 40.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50-day moving average of $163.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.28. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group upgraded Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.13.

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.