Wealthfront Advisers LLC Raises Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 76.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 108,421 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 47,095 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $18,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,790,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Investmark Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McAdam LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,687 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $138.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $100.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.25. 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 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.