Bouchey Financial Group Ltd Invests $219,000 in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Bouchey Financial Group Ltd bought a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,271 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 8.8% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 17,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,688,000 after buying an additional 1,425 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 5.4% during the third quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 3,958 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $606,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,374 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $396,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Childress Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at about $258,000. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.9% in the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 15,951 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,706,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $157.52 on Friday. 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 $113.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.39, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.01.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. 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 report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.