Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc Boosts Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,475 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bangor Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value 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 trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Trading Down 3.5 %

BX opened at $158.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $114.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $173.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.48. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 158.68%.

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.