Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Acquires 8,210 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 66,788 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,210 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $8,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 763.0% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Family CFO Inc bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $123.19 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.92 and a 12-month high of $133.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $126.81 and a 200-day moving average of $117.64.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The asset manager reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.16. Blackstone had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 17.30%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.07 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 12th. Investors of record on Monday, February 5th were given a $0.94 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 205.46%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Blackstone news, Director Reginald J. Brown purchased 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $125.62 per share, with a total value of $301,488.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,129,133.38. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $115.00 to $128.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $120.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.92.

Blackstone Company 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.