Caprock Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 166.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,918 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 11,184 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in Blackstone by 187.5% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 32.1% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BX. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com lowered Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $172.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of BX stock traded up $4.16 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $174.99. 3,227,860 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,098,202. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.34 billion, a PE ratio of 48.21, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $179.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.11. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 94.77%.

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.