Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Buys Shares of 202,815 Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 202,815 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $34,969,000. Blackstone accounts for approximately 0.5% of Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,790,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in Blackstone by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,970,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,687 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 11,035 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,903,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $154.82.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.2 %

BX traded up $2.87 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $134.58. 2,195,321 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,717,421. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $139.76 and a 200 day moving average of $163.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $98.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.