Hedeker Wealth LLC Raises Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Hedeker Wealth LLC lifted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 39,342 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for approximately 1.7% of Hedeker Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Hedeker Wealth LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Bangor Savings Bank grew its position in Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Blackstone by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on BX. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.2 %

BX opened at $174.50 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $179.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $163.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 158.68%.

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.