Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $127.11 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 824,641 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,781 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $127,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 112,624 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $17,360,000 after acquiring an additional 3,821 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $710,000. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 146,100 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,520,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 15,233 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,348,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,809,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. Citizens Jmp dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price target on Blackstone from $138.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.95.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the transaction, the insider directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 2,868,069 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $75,000,004.35. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 18,628,295 shares in the company, valued at $487,129,914.25. The trade was a 18.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold 9,103,660 shares of company stock valued at $45,982,920 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.7%

Blackstone stock opened at $124.78 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $92.61 billion, a PE ratio of 31.91, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $116.20 and its 200 day moving average is $136.41. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.67%.

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.