Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Buys 299 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,368 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Bangor Savings Bank increased its holdings in Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th 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 stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on BX. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their price target on Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of BX stock opened at $174.99 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $126.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.21, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $179.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $163.11. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced 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 net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.86 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. 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 3.29%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.