Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in the 4th 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 period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BX. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $174.99 on Thursday. 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. The company has a market cap of $126.34 billion, a PE ratio of 48.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $179.07 and a 200 day moving average of $163.20.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $1.44 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 94.77%.

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.