Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $40.69 Million Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 235,998 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 2,052 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $40,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on BX shares. StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $172.38.

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Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $145.12. The stock had a trading volume of 6,476,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,295,543. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $169.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.86 billion, a PE ratio of 39.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. 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 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current 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 $1.44 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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.