UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Increases Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp boosted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,535 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,257 shares during the quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bangor Savings Bank increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.13.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $151.29 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $162.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.69. The stock has a market cap of $110.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.68, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.