Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 12,192 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,102,000. Blackstone makes up about 1.1% of Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sather Financial Group Inc boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 202.5% in the third quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 4,050 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Aljian Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,951,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2,185.4% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,901,000 after buying an additional 18,117 shares during the period. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 214.2% in the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,845,000 after acquiring an additional 15,205 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on BX shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Blackstone from $192.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.0 %

BX opened at $168.52 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.80. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.82 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $121.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.