Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC Grows Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 101,984 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises approximately 3.4% of Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $17,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $316,257,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2,057.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 844,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $145,653,000 after buying an additional 805,604 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 111.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 973,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $167,825,000 after acquiring an additional 512,165 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 51.0% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,430,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $248,723,000 after acquiring an additional 483,362 shares during the period. Finally, Castleark Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth $67,472,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $148.65 on Friday. 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 one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $163.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.43 billion, a PE ratio of 40.95, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 158.68%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Citigroup reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.