Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Boosts Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 13.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,663 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,127 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $146.11 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $106.58 billion, a PE ratio of 40.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.82 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.29.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results 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, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $1.44 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 158.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of 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 research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.