Centricity Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 172 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $30,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BX. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX stock opened at $158.21 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96. The firm has a market cap of $114.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.58, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen investment 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, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

About Blackstone

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.