Sapient Capital LLC Acquires 235 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Sapient Capital LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,378 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. Sather Financial Group Inc grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 202.5% during the third 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. Portside Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter worth about $201,000. Aljian Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter worth about $1,951,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2,185.4% during the third 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. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 214.2% during the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,845,000 after buying an additional 15,205 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $164.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $118.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.40, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $177.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BX. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.