Stephens Inc. AR Has $59.08 Million Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 342,662 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 23,986 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises approximately 0.8% of Stephens Inc. AR’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $59,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $170.11 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $178.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $163.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.86, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.77%.

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.