iA Global Asset Management Inc. Acquires New Shares in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 513 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $88,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 214.2% in the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,845,000 after acquiring an additional 15,205 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,053,000 after acquiring an additional 4,688 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 260.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 8,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,272,000 after acquiring an additional 5,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 909,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $139,302,000 after acquiring an additional 51,897 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.13.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $148.65 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.82 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $163.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.28. The company has a market capitalization of $108.43 billion, a PE ratio of 40.95, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current 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 $1.44 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

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.