BankPlus Trust Department Purchases New Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 17,700 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $3,052,000. Blackstone makes up 1.0% of BankPlus Trust Department’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Blackstone by 190.4% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 7,181 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,238,000 after acquiring an additional 4,708 shares during the period. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $416,000. Colonial River Investments LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 4,151 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $716,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in Blackstone by 316.9% during the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 87,822 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,142,000 after purchasing an additional 66,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $472,000. 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 company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of BX stock opened at $158.21 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $173.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $114.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.58, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.82 and a twelve month high of $200.96.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given 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 dividend yield of 3.64%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.38.

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.