Vanguard Group Inc. Has $11.53 Billion Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.27% of Blackstone worth $11,533,972,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its position in Blackstone by 187.5% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock traded down $0.79 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $151.29. The company had a trading volume of 3,587,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,278,089. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $163.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.59. The company has a market cap of $110.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.82 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96.

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Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on BX shares. StockNews.com lowered Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Blackstone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $171.13.

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.