World Investment Advisors Boosts Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

World Investment Advisors increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,823 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Blackstone were worth $12,556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,978,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $746,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 3,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239 shares during the last quarter. Bryce Point Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $509,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in Blackstone by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 24,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,284,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of BX opened at $147.80 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $158.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.47. The company has a market capitalization of $107.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. 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. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group raised Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.13.

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.