Czech National Bank Acquires 9,858 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 156,545 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 9,858 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $26,991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter worth $27,000. Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 32.1% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone by 57.7% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 276 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.00.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $165.00 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $180.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $156.98. The stock has a market cap of $119.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $114.88 and a one year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a $0.86 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 118.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.