Howland Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Howland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,337 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,983 shares during the period. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $7,472,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. 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 last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BX. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $163.48.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Blackstone Company 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.