TruNorth Capital Management LLC Takes $414,000 Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,400 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $414,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BX. State Street Corp lifted its position in Blackstone by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,597,028,000 after purchasing an additional 348,751 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,272,227,000 after buying an additional 336,308 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Blackstone by 1.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,931,411 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $602,017,000 after acquiring an additional 61,739 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,430,909 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $525,375,000 after purchasing an additional 116,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,155,068 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $330,006,000 after purchasing an additional 124,462 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company’s 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 acquisition, the director now 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $157.27 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $172.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.93. The stock has a market cap of $113.55 billion, a PE ratio of 43.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.38.

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.