Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Takes $19.48 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 112,961 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $19,477,000. Blackstone accounts for approximately 0.6% of Strategic Financial Concepts LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,790,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BX. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays decreased 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 note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $165.09 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $119.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.48, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $176.09 and a 200 day moving average of $164.28. 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 (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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