Fortis Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Fortis Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 31.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,275 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 3,214 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises approximately 0.8% of Fortis Capital Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 15,205 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 8.8% during the 4th 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 period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Blackstone by 6.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 909,698 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $139,302,000 after buying an additional 51,897 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX traded up $3.20 on Tuesday, reaching $133.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,222,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,713,293. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $165.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $97.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.82, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.31%. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on BX. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $155.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Blackstone

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.