Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,889 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bangor Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $170.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $122.82 billion, a PE ratio of 46.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $178.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $163.48.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on BX shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

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.