J. W. Coons Advisors LLC Invests $416,000 in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

J. W. Coons Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,414 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $416,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,597,028,000 after buying an additional 348,751 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,272,227,000 after purchasing an additional 336,308 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Blackstone by 1.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,931,411 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $602,017,000 after purchasing an additional 61,739 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 3.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,430,909 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $525,375,000 after purchasing an additional 116,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 6.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,155,068 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $330,006,000 after purchasing an additional 124,462 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $158.21 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $165.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $114.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.58, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.82 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $1.44 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

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.