Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Acquired by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 100,801 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 7,255 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $17,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Blackstone by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,597,028,000 after purchasing an additional 348,751 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% in 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 buying an additional 336,308 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,045,143 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $697,464,000 after buying an additional 113,732 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 3.5% in the 3rd 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 worth $525,375,000 after acquiring an additional 116,367 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,155,068 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $330,006,000 after purchasing an additional 124,462 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 4.1 %

NYSE BX opened at $139.24 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.26. The stock has a market cap of $101.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.36, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 158.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on BX shares. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

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.