iA Global Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 513 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $88,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $316,257,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2,057.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 844,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $145,653,000 after purchasing an additional 805,604 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 111.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 973,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $167,825,000 after purchasing an additional 512,165 shares during the period. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 51.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,430,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $248,723,000 after purchasing an additional 483,362 shares during the period. Finally, Castleark Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter worth $67,472,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on BX. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised 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. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.13.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $148.65 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $163.53 and a 200-day moving average of $167.28. The firm has a market cap of $108.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-year high of $200.96.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.