Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. Has $1.42 Million Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 483 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up approximately 1.1% of Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Sather Financial Group Inc boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 202.5% during the third quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $926,000 after purchasing an additional 4,050 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $201,000. Aljian Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,951,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2,185.4% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,901,000 after acquiring an additional 18,117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 214.2% in the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,845,000 after purchasing an additional 15,205 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on BX. Barclays reduced their price target on Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $160.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.17 billion, a PE ratio of 44.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $164.14. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month 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 announced its quarterly 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%. Analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.