Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Position Increased by Treasurer of the State of North Carolina

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 317,445 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 8,920 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina's holdings in Blackstone were worth $54,734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $316,257,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,990,238 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $515,577,000 after acquiring an additional 835,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2,057.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 844,755 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $145,653,000 after buying an additional 805,604 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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Blackstone Stock Up 2.0 %

BX traded up $2.57 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $133.04. 3,201,095 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,700,464. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $97.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.65, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $148.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $165.54.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share 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, analysts forecast 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. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays lowered their price target on Blackstone from $186.00 to $129.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JMP Securities raised Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $155.72.

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.