GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 74 shares during the quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the fourth 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased 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 in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $170.11 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $178.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $163.28. 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 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $122.82 billion, a PE ratio of 46.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its 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%. Research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.