Madison Investment Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,731 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,597,028,000 after buying an additional 348,751 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,272,227,000 after purchasing an additional 336,308 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.9% in 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. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 3.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,430,909 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $525,375,000 after buying an additional 116,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,155,068 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $330,006,000 after acquiring an additional 124,462 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock traded down $0.79 on Tuesday, hitting $151.29. The company had a trading volume of 3,782,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,284,055. The firm has a market cap of $110.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.82 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $162.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on BX. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $171.13.

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.