StoneX Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

StoneX Group Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 39.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 34,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,759 shares during the quarter. StoneX Group Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Bangor Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $139.89 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $160.06 and a 200 day moving average of $167.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $102.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.54, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 158.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on BX. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.13.

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.