Empowered Funds LLC Has $5.87 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 16.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,022 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,874 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sather Financial Group Inc boosted its stake in Blackstone by 202.5% during the third quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $926,000 after buying an additional 4,050 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at about $201,000. Aljian Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,951,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2,185.4% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,901,000 after buying an additional 18,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 214.2% in the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,845,000 after buying an additional 15,205 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised 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. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $164.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $118.98 billion, a PE ratio of 45.40, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $177.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.00. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s 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.