Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC Acquires 690 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 101,984 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for about 3.4% of Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $17,584,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,272,227,000 after buying an additional 336,308 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,045,143 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $697,464,000 after buying an additional 113,732 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.5% during the third 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 valued at $525,375,000 after acquiring an additional 116,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 6.1% in the third 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $148.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $163.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.08. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.82 and a twelve month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. 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 3.87%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.13.

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.