AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,286 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $566,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 214.2% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,053,000 after acquiring an additional 4,688 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 909,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $139,302,000 after purchasing an additional 51,897 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 716,319 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $123,508,000 after purchasing an additional 5,951 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $144.81 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.89, a PEG 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. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.38. 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 (NYSE:BX) last released 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 return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. On average, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. UBS Group upgraded Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.13.

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.