Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Boosts Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 47,963 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,117 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Blackstone were worth $8,370,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BX. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in 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 period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.13.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $148.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $163.53 and its 200 day moving average is $167.28. The company has a market cap of $108.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.95, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96.

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, beating 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 research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.