Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,341,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 444,887 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.12% of Blackstone worth $2,637,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 214.2% in the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,845,000 after purchasing an additional 15,205 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Blackstone by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,053,000 after buying an additional 4,688 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 909,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $139,302,000 after acquiring an additional 51,897 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $139.89 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $160.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.54, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share 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, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BX. UBS Group upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.