Stevens Capital Management LP Takes Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 4,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $840,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Bangor Savings Bank lifted 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 shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on BX. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.13.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE BX opened at $148.65 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $108.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $163.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.28.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. 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 of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Blackstone

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.