Trust Investment Advisors Acquires 1,218 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Trust Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 69.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,968 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,218 shares during the period. Trust Investment Advisors’ holdings in Blackstone were worth $512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its position 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BX. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of Blackstone 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 owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX opened at $151.29 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $162.90 and a 200-day moving average of $167.69. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.82 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio 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.