Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 54.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,503 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America upped their price target on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.78.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $159.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $114.10 billion, a PE ratio of 56.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $139.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $129.11. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.59 and a fifty-two week high of $160.24.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.90%.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.