Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Has $345,000 Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring 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 reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter worth $27,000. Bangor Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 32.1% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $174.99 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96. 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 company has a market cap of $126.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.21, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $179.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.20.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. On average, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on BX. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

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.