Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Buys 1,250 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 33.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,019 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,250 shares during the quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sather Financial Group Inc boosted its position in Blackstone by 202.5% during the third quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 4,050 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter worth about $201,000. Aljian Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $1,951,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2,185.4% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,901,000 after buying an additional 18,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $2,102,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $161.01 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.35, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by 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.