Capital World Investors Sells 4,623,643 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Capital World Investors reduced its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,014,189 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,623,643 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors’ holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,737,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth $1,071,348,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone by 2.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,394,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494,796 shares during the period. Close Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the 3rd quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $194,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,197 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 31.9% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,803,344 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $568,902,000 after buying an additional 919,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Blackstone by 115.4% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,088,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $162,861,000 after acquiring an additional 583,384 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 1,146,789 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.16 per share, for a total transaction of $30,000,000.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 16,716,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $437,297,073.84. This represents a 7.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $110.69 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $138.78 and its 200-day moving average is $152.10. The company has a market capitalization of $82.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.53, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.80. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $105.09 and a 12 month high of $190.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.69 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $1.49 per share. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 153.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Argus lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Blackstone from $185.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $165.86.

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.