978,074 Shares in Blackstone Inc. $BX Acquired by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 978,074 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $115,090,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,058,000. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth $2,044,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth about $605,267,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth approximately $170,630,000. Finally, Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $277,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $4,066,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 869,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $117,883,632.95. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total value of $28,264,950.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 19,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,233.72. This represents a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and have sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE BX opened at $143.25 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $129.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.68. The company has a market cap of $107.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 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, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. Blackstone’s revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 115.44%.

Blackstone Company 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.