Quantbot Technologies LP Purchases 17,697 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 658.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 20,383 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,697 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $316,257,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 2,057.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 844,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $145,653,000 after purchasing an additional 805,604 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 111.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 973,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $167,825,000 after purchasing an additional 512,165 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in Blackstone by 51.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,430,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $248,723,000 after acquiring an additional 483,362 shares during the period. Finally, Castleark Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at about $67,472,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $148.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $163.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.08.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. On average, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.