DNB Asset Management AS Acquires 37,121 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 267,773 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 37,121 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $45,749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BX. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE BX opened at $117.87 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $111.04 and a one year high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $144.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.21. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.17% and a net margin of 20.89%.The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.69 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $1.49 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 153.61%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 1,146,789 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.16 per share, with a total value of $30,000,000.24. Following the purchase, the insider owned 16,716,249 shares in the company, valued at $437,297,073.84. This represents a 7.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 2,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,610. This trade represents a 99.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. HSBC cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $178.00 to $174.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Blackstone from $185.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Argus decreased their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.38.

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.