Bridgewater Associates LP Makes New Investment in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,609 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $795,000.

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

Blackstone Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of BX opened at $130.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $95.01 billion, a PE ratio of 35.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $145.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $164.85.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 158.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upgraded Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.72.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.