1776 Wealth LLC Has $4.48 Million Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

1776 Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,981 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,484 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises approximately 1.9% of 1776 Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. 1776 Wealth LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BX. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $140.46 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The company has a market capitalization of $102.46 billion, a PE ratio of 38.70, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a 50 day moving average of $167.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.06. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. As a group, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 158.68%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BX shares. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently 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.