Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Cuts Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund decreased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 651,992 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 56,987 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned about 0.09% of Blackstone worth $100,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $1,275,747,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 99.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $983,690,000 after buying an additional 3,178,133 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,827,437 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,100,868,000 after buying an additional 1,335,060 shares in the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the third quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $194,746,000 after buying an additional 1,133,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,065,374,000 after buying an additional 636,613 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays dropped their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Argus dropped their price target on Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Citizens Jmp decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.86.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.5%

BX opened at $122.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $91.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.36, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.59. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.03.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.67%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total value of $26,246,039.04. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,670.32. This trade represents a 99.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 2,868,069 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $75,000,004.35. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 18,628,295 shares in the company, valued at $487,129,914.25. The trade was a 18.20% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders acquired 12,355,303 shares of company stock worth $264,789,896 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.