Whittier Trust Co. Grows Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 321,846 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,541 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up about 0.7% of Whittier Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $55,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 187.5% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the business’s 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BX shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $149.69 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. The company has a market capitalization of $109.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.16. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year 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 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.85%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 158.68%.

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.