WoodTrust Financial Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

WoodTrust Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,359 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bangor Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX opened at $150.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.73 billion, a PE ratio of 41.49, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $170.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.82 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (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%. Equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 158.68%.

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.