Clearbridge Investments LLC Purchases 8,844 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 383,771 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,844 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.05% of Blackstone worth $66,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in 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 buying an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Blackstone by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,597,028,000 after acquiring an additional 348,751 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,272,227,000 after purchasing an additional 336,308 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $974,448,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,045,143 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $697,464,000 after buying an additional 113,732 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $139.89 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $160.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.67. 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 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.54, a price-to-earnings-growth 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, 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 predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.