Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Lowers Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lowered its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 140,414 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 17,183 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $17,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Aveo Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $217,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $238,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 160,073 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $20,957,000 after purchasing an additional 4,401 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 35,241 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,614,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HCR Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $234,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $158.12 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $139.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.41. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.59 and a 52-week high of $161.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.87, 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.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). The firm 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%. Blackstone’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.90%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’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 transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on BX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Blackstone in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.78.

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.