Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Sells 185,259 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reduced its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 54.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 157,597 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 185,259 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $20,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 86.2% in the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Advantage Trust Co bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.4 %

BX traded up $1.98 on Friday, hitting $142.00. The company had a trading volume of 3,262,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,826,148. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.59 and a 52-week high of $145.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.50.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.31%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 219 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $119.48 per share, for a total transaction of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,115,488.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Barclays increased their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $127.56.

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.