Harbor Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Harbor Advisors LLC grew its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 77.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,700 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares during the quarter. Harbor Advisors LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,691,000. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $347,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Blackstone by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 441,877 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $76,188,000 after buying an additional 35,500 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 65,513 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,296,000 after acquiring an additional 6,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plancorp LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock traded down $1.86 during trading on Thursday, reaching $144.81. The company had a trading volume of 2,993,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,295,085. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $105.62 billion, a PE ratio of 39.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $162.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.54.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued 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 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BX shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Blackstone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $171.13.

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.