Catalyst Financial Partners LLC Raises Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 20.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,994 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 344 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% during 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.9 %

Blackstone stock opened at $165.09 on Friday. 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 one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.20 billion, a PE ratio of 45.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53. The business’s fifty day moving average is $176.53 and its 200 day moving average is $164.11.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 158.68%.

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.