Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 6,640 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 410,326 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,640 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.06% of Blackstone worth $70,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bangor Savings Bank increased its stake in Blackstone by 187.5% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. Citigroup reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.13.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.3 %

BX stock opened at $144.81 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $161.69 and a 200-day moving average of $167.38. The company has a market cap of $105.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.89, a PEG 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 quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

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.