KCM Investment Advisors LLC Buys 10,641 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 201,758 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 10,641 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for about 1.2% of KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $34,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bangor Savings Bank increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.06.

Blackstone Trading Down 6.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $124.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.94 billion, a PE ratio of 34.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $156.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.03. 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.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.62%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.