Maridea Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 4,333 Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Maridea Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,333 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $747,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Bangor Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the fourth 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 valued at about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased 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 $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of BX opened at $138.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.85 billion, a PE ratio of 38.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $160.86 and its 200-day moving average is $167.37. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upgraded 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. upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.13.

Blackstone Company 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.