Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $314,000 in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,822 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $314,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BX. Sather Financial Group Inc increased its stake in Blackstone by 202.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $926,000 after buying an additional 4,050 shares in the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth $1,951,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 2,185.4% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,901,000 after buying an additional 18,117 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $2,102,000. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 214.2% during the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,845,000 after purchasing an additional 15,205 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $141.01 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $102.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.85, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company’s 50 day moving average is $165.90 and its 200 day moving average is $167.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.82 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

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.