Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 121,998 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 37.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 451,137 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 121,998 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of Blackstone worth $77,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 15,344 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $345,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $273,000. LBP AM SA bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $2,191,000. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $298,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of BX opened at $141.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $102.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.85, 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 company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $165.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.02.

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, 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, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on BX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

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.