PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab Purchases 17,500 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab raised its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 19.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,550 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,500 shares during the period. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $12,891,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,275,747,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings 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 during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter worth $164,597,000. Amundi lifted its position in Blackstone by 85.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,709,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $417,620,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in Blackstone by 476.1% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,324,168 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $204,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094,307 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Blackstone from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.95.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.6%

NYSE BX opened at $136.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $101.67 billion, a PE ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $190.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $123.47 and a 200-day moving average of $123.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a $1.29 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone purchased 9,486,795 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares in the company, valued at $182,236,000. This represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total value of $28,264,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 19,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have purchased a total of 10,825,959 shares of company stock valued at $224,789,900 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Company 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.