Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,779 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,275 shares during the period. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% during the third quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.4% in the fourth 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. Investmark Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, McAdam LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,687 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BX. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group raised shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.13.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX opened at $148.72 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $108.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.97, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The business’s 50 day moving average is $163.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.04.

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%. Research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.