Kensington Investment Counsel LLC Has $2.35 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 80.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,639 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,080 shares during the period. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BX. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 55.8% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,272 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 29,148 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,463,000 after acquiring an additional 3,236 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $933,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the period. Planning Directions Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth $236,000. Finally, Aljian Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth $1,951,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, the director now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Trading Up 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $147.67 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $165.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.26. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.72 billion, a PE ratio of 40.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS 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, equities analysts forecast 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 paid 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 dividend yield of 3.90%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

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.