Sage Investment Counsel LLC Makes New Investment in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Sage Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th 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 stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Blackstone from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX opened at $161.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.82 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.25 billion, a PE ratio of 44.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $171.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.23.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

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.