Invesco Ltd. Grows Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,987,702 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 371,677 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.83% of Blackstone worth $1,032,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 214.2% during the 4th 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 grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,229 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $10,053,000 after buying an additional 4,688 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 51,897 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BX. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their price target on Blackstone from $186.00 to $129.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $157.22.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX traded down $0.26 on Friday, reaching $127.19. 7,805,964 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,690,525. The stock has a market cap of $92.77 billion, a PE ratio of 35.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $149.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.63.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.53%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 158.68%.

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.