National Pension Service Has $196.64 Million Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,671,137 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 70,409 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $196,643,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BX. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. NBH Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $4,066,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $117,883,632.95. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone acquired 272,642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $7,126,861.88. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 8,704,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,533,512.66. The trade was a 3.23% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen increased their target price on Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Citizens Jmp cut their price target on Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.43.

Blackstone Trading Down 2.9%

NYSE:BX opened at $125.39 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $133.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $123.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $94.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 115.44%.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc is a global alternative asset management firm that provides investment management and advisory services to institutions, corporations, and individual investors. The company invests across multiple asset classes, including private equity, real estate, credit, infrastructure, insurance solutions, and hedge fund solutions.

Its investment activities include acquiring and managing businesses, commercial and residential properties, infrastructure assets, and credit investments.