Weybosset Research & Management LLC Invests $224,000 in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Weybosset Research & Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,299 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its stake in Blackstone by 187.5% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 57.7% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 276 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 232.1% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 279 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX stock traded down $8.58 during trading on Friday, reaching $165.39. 1,487,900 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,076,677. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $114.88 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a market capitalization of $119.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a $0.86 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 118.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $188.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen 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, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.00.

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.