Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Purchased by Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC

Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 30.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,978 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 467 shares during the quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.13.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $138.26 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $160.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.55. The stock has a market cap of $100.85 billion, a PE ratio of 38.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS 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, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 158.68%.

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.