Lokken Investment Group LLC Has $1.16 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Lokken Investment Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,713 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 233 shares during the quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $139.89 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The firm has a market cap of $102.04 billion, a PE ratio of 38.54, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.67. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 158.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on BX. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group raised shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.13.

Blackstone 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.