Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Stock Position Increased by Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 127,926 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,333 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $22,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position 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% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,272,227,000 after buying an additional 336,308 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,045,143 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $697,464,000 after buying an additional 113,732 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.5% during 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 buying an additional 116,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 124,462 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $148.72 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $163.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.04. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a market capitalization of $108.48 billion, a PE ratio of 40.97, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. 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 (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. Research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. 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.