F M Investments LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

F M Investments LLC boosted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 53.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,973 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 18,376 shares during the period. F M Investments LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $9,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 15,205 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 8.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 909,698 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $139,302,000 after purchasing an additional 51,897 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $155.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of Blackstone stock traded up $3.51 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $133.98. 2,917,798 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,699,532. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $148.21 and a 200-day moving average of $165.54. The company has a market cap of $97.73 billion, a PE ratio of 36.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.30%. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Blackstone 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.