Westover Capital Advisors LLC Buys 210 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Westover Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,876 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its position in Blackstone by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 5,764 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $992,000 after purchasing an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Blackstone by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,045,143 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $697,464,000 after purchasing an additional 113,732 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP grew its position in Blackstone by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 7,440 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,283,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 66.2% in the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,945 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 1,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DJE Kapital AG acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $28,339,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $158.36 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.82 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS 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%. Analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 158.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on BX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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.