Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 48,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $7,251,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,046,859,000 after purchasing an additional 840,258 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,362,796 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,358,334,000 after purchasing an additional 412,281 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,275,747,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,324,989 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,251,474,000 after purchasing an additional 329,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,677,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $799,236,000 after purchasing an additional 145,056 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $114.23 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $84.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.59. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $119.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.52. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.67%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 2,868,069 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $75,000,004.35. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 18,628,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $487,129,914.25. This trade represents a 18.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 41,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 12,355,303 shares of company stock worth $264,789,896. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. HSBC reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.05.

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.