GM Advisory Group LLC Grows Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

GM Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 26.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,807 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 592 shares during the quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 1.8% in the third quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,790,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.4% during the third quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 6.5% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McAdam LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,687 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX stock opened at $149.69 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $109.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. 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 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $164.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.16.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 158.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Blackstone

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.