Commerce Bank Raises Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Commerce Bank increased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 258.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 291,437 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 210,177 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank's holdings in Blackstone were worth $50,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Bangor Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded up $3.85 on Wednesday, reaching $128.76. 2,986,537 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,726,900. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $143.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $164.45. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.92 billion, a PE ratio of 35.47, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 158.68%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. JMP Securities upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $153.72.

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.