Diversified Enterprises LLC Takes $540,000 Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Diversified Enterprises LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,133 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $540,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Bangor Savings Bank raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Trading Up 3.3 %

NYSE:BX opened at $141.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $102.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $165.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.84. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. 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 (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share 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, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.