Huntington National Bank Buys 394 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BX. Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Up 3.5 %

BX opened at $147.80 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.72, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

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 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 predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current 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 3.90%. 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BX shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.13.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.