Teacher Retirement System of Texas Raises Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1,283.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,175 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 61,390 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Blackstone were worth $11,410,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bangor Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX traded down $0.79 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $151.29. 3,782,403 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,285,742. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.69. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.82 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.35 billion, a PE ratio of 41.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. 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 posted 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, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. This is a positive change 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 of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.