Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Makes New Investment in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,558 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $419,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 371 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $137.17 per share, for a total transaction of $50,890.07. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 42,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,787,065.13. The trade was a 0.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone purchased 272,642 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $7,126,861.88. Following the purchase, the insider owned 8,704,419 shares in the company, valued at $227,533,512.66. This represents a 3.23% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 1,611,822 shares of company stock valued at $42,189,294 and sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $143.34 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $129.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.07, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 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 business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 115.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note 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 research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95.

About Blackstone

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.