Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Buys 57,250 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 48.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 176,522 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 57,250 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $20,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Family CFO Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Blackstone from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Dbs Bank raised shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citizens Jmp dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 765,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $20,000,001.54. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 7,882,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,039,270.30. This trade represents a 10.75% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total transaction of $3,775,461.06. Following the sale, the insider owned 899,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have purchased 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $122.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $91.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $119.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.02.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 118.67%.

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.