Advisory Services Network LLC Buys 12,677 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 26.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 60,243 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,677 shares during the quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $10,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. Citigroup reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $186.00 to $129.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.50.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $124.37 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.72 billion, a PE ratio of 34.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $155.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.95.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.63%. 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.