Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Bought by First Bank & Trust

First Bank & Trust grew its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,690 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,790,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $163.83 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $118.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.13, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.82 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current 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 a boost 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 3.52%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock 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 issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company 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.