Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd Takes $1.65 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 9,574 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,651,000. Blackstone comprises 0.7% of Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Blackstone by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,597,028,000 after buying an additional 348,751 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,272,227,000 after acquiring an additional 336,308 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 12,192.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $908,797,000 after purchasing an additional 7,281,128 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Blackstone by 2.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,266,207 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $775,758,000 after buying an additional 141,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 15,357.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,201,150 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,433,220,000 after purchasing an additional 4,173,971 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $165.70 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $180.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.88 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $119.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.94, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on BX. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays decreased their price target on Blackstone from $199.00 to $192.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Twelve 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, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.50.

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.