OFI Invest Asset Management Acquires New Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 19,318 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $3,217,000.

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

Blackstone Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of BX stock opened at $145.12 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $169.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.00. The firm has a market cap of $105.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.98, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 158.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.