Fmr LLC Buys 835,170 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

FMR LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 38.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,990,238 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 835,170 shares during the period. FMR LLC owned 0.41% of Blackstone worth $515,577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,533,972,000 after buying an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,341,300 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,637,266,000 after buying an additional 444,887 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $974,448,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,045,143 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $697,464,000 after buying an additional 113,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE lifted its stake in Blackstone by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 1,984,892 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $342,235,000 after purchasing an additional 753,766 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX traded up $3.86 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $134.33. 2,198,075 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,696,405. The company has a 50-day moving average of $148.21 and a 200-day moving average of $165.54. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61.

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Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. Analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.29%. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $155.72.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.