Alberta Investment Management Corp Invests $6.07 Million in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 35,500 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $6,065,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BX. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Blackstone from $164.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $164.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.76.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $133.02 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $148.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.23 billion, a PE ratio of 34.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.76. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The business had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.69 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a $1.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 153.61%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,610. The trade was a 99.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 385,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.96 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,999.68. Following the purchase, the insider owned 16,332,883 shares in the company, valued at $424,001,642.68. This trade represents a 2.42% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.