Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp Purchases New Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 191 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BX. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $316,257,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 2,057.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 844,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $145,653,000 after acquiring an additional 805,604 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 111.1% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 973,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $167,825,000 after purchasing an additional 512,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 51.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,430,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $248,723,000 after purchasing an additional 483,362 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.3 %

Blackstone stock opened at $144.81 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.62 billion, a PE ratio of 39.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 158.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on BX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.13.

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.