O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Has $15.22 Million Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 21.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 88,244 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 15,818 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $15,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 214.2% in the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,845,000 after buying an additional 15,205 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Blackstone by 8.8% during the fourth 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. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 51,897 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX stock opened at $138.26 on Monday. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.82 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The business’s fifty day moving average is $160.86 and its 200-day moving average is $167.72. The company has a market cap of $100.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 158.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.13.

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.