1,731 Shares in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Bought by Madison Investment Advisors LLC

Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,731 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 214.2% in the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,845,000 after purchasing an additional 15,205 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,053,000 after purchasing an additional 4,688 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 260.0% in the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 8,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 5,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 909,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $139,302,000 after purchasing an additional 51,897 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on BX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.13.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $148.65 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $163.53 and a 200-day moving average of $167.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 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, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 158.68%.

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.