Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires 18,474 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,703,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 18,474 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Blackstone worth $291,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 519,669.1% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 70,132,441 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,490,411,000 after buying an additional 70,118,948 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $1,071,348,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Blackstone by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,394,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,796 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 31.9% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,803,344 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $568,902,000 after purchasing an additional 919,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 115.4% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,088,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $162,861,000 after buying an additional 583,384 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.6%

NYSE:BX opened at $157.76 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $116.50 billion, a PE ratio of 45.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a 50-day moving average of $149.54 and a 200 day moving average of $161.10. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 20.56%.The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 147.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BX. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $173.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 24th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $199.00 to $189.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. HSBC cut their target price on Blackstone from $179.00 to $178.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Blackstone from $164.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.89.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $146.92 per share, for a total transaction of $47,602.08. Following the purchase, the director owned 39,077 shares in the company, valued at $5,741,192.84. This trade represents a 0.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James Breyer bought 13,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $143.86 per share, for a total transaction of $1,999,654.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 68,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,912,817.16. The trade was a 25.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 797,148 shares of company stock worth $24,050,153. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Profile

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.