Norway Savings Bank Buys 506 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Norway Savings Bank boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,600 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises about 1.3% of Norway Savings Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Norway Savings Bank’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in Blackstone by 12,192.7% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $908,797,000 after purchasing an additional 7,281,128 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 15,357.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,201,150 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,433,220,000 after purchasing an additional 4,173,971 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Blackstone by 213.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,375,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $170,345,000 after acquiring an additional 937,084 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 468.4% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,107,547 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $137,114,000 after acquiring an additional 912,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castleark Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter worth approximately $67,472,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $3.54 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $171.25. 1,727,535 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,964,951. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $114.88 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.64 billion, a PE ratio of 58.85, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a 50-day moving average of $180.59 and a 200 day moving average of $155.66.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. On average, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BX. Bank of America boosted their price target on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com lowered Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.00.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone 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.