Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 6,667 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,934 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 6,667 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $14,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,611,895 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $277,923,000 after buying an additional 20,443 shares in the last quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 3,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $532,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $19,477,000. Leo Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 7,041 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,214,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Down 2.5 %

Blackstone stock opened at $170.11 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.82 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $178.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.28. The company has a market capitalization of $122.82 billion, a PE ratio of 46.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS 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%. Research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 94.77%.

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.