Princeton Global Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 104,024 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,717 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises 3.4% of Princeton Global Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $17,936,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bangor Savings Bank increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone by 32.1% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BX. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.13.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.5 %

Blackstone stock opened at $176.92 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.82 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $127.74 billion, a PE ratio of 48.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $180.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $162.43. 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 94.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone 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.