KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Takes $41.69 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 241,800 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $41,691,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BX. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $316,257,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 2,057.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 844,755 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $145,653,000 after buying an additional 805,604 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 111.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 973,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $167,825,000 after purchasing an additional 512,165 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Blackstone by 51.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,430,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $248,723,000 after purchasing an additional 483,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castleark Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter worth $67,472,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.13.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $148.65 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.82 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $108.43 billion, a PE ratio of 40.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $163.53 and a 200 day moving average of $167.08.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Blackstone Profile

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.