Sterling Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,819 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 2,512 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 31,773 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,478,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the period. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,996 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co increased its stake in Blackstone by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 72,698 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $12,535,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Blackstone by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 317,445 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $54,734,000 after buying an additional 8,920 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 61.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,263 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 865 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JMP Securities raised shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised Blackstone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $155.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX traded up $3.20 on Tuesday, hitting $133.67. 6,222,545 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,713,293. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $148.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.54. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) 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 return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.31%. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

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.