Proficio Capital Partners LLC Grows Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2,057.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 844,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 805,604 shares during the quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $145,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sather Financial Group Inc increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 202.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $926,000 after buying an additional 4,050 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the third quarter worth approximately $201,000. Aljian Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,951,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 2,185.4% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,901,000 after buying an additional 18,117 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,102,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.3 %

Blackstone stock opened at $159.26 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $114.99 billion, a PE ratio of 43.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $172.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.07.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.38.

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.