Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Buys New Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 139,717 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $16,440,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,112,162,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $1,275,747,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth approximately $514,736,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 99.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $983,690,000 after acquiring an additional 3,178,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $270,380,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $143.56 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $128.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.12, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve 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.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced 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 return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $1.29 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone purchased 765,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $20,000,001.54. Following the transaction, the insider owned 7,882,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $206,039,270.30. This trade represents a 10.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $9,359,783.04. This represents a 12.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 1,339,180 shares of company stock valued at $35,062,433 and have sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Blackstone from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.95.

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.