Sandy Spring Bank Increases Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Sandy Spring Bank lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,629 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for approximately 0.7% of Sandy Spring Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $16,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BX. 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 during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.4 %

BX opened at $149.69 on Thursday. 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 has a market cap of $109.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.24, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.16.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS 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. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value 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 represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.38.

About Blackstone

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.