Argent Trust Co Increases Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Argent Trust Co raised its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 72,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $12,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its position in Blackstone by 187.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.22.

Blackstone Stock Down 4.9 %

Shares of NYSE BX traded down $6.77 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $130.59. The company had a trading volume of 589,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,640,096. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.25 billion, a PE ratio of 35.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $150.91 and its 200-day moving average is $166.02.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.41%. This is a boost 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 is currently 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.