Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases Shares of 1,811,214 Blackstone Inc. $BX

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,811,214 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $213,126,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.24% of Blackstone as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 100,951 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,561,000 after acquiring an additional 8,321 shares during the period. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,340,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,046,859,000 after buying an additional 840,258 shares in the last quarter. Marble Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $7,303,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 92.2% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 807,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $92,817,000 after acquiring an additional 387,109 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Blackstone from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays increased their target price on Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.95.

Blackstone Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of BX opened at $140.87 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $127.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.74 billion, a PE ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $1.29 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.44%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $4,066,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,883,632.95. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total value of $28,264,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 19,374 shares in the company, valued at $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 1,339,180 shares of company stock valued at $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.