Nykredit A S Acquires Shares of 197,479 Blackstone Inc. $BX

Nykredit A S bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 197,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $23,237,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Palladiem LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 26,600.0% during the second quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 267 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $137.72 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $132.34 and a 200-day moving average of $123.05. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $190.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.38 billion, a PE ratio of 30.81, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.56.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 115.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 371 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $137.17 per share, for a total transaction of $50,890.07. Following the purchase, the director owned 42,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,787,065.13. This trade represents a 0.89% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total transaction of $1,379,685.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,359,783.04. This represents a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BX shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research 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 on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Barclays boosted their price target on Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.43.

About Blackstone

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.