Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. Raises Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 36.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 376 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $65,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bangor Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.3 %

BX stock opened at $139.89 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96. 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 company has a market cap 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. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $160.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

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. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average 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.