Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Purchases New Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,893 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $326,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BX. Bangor Savings Bank increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $145.12 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.98, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued 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 net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. Equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

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.