Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 43,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $5,630,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Blackstone by 30.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,091,903 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,652,526,000 after acquiring an additional 14,396,655 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $510,355,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 96,256.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,790,996 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $429,634,000 after buying an additional 5,784,986 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 13,816.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,623,868 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,744,370,000 after buying an additional 3,597,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 43.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,877,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $736,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,098,150 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX traded down $3.40 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $123.47. 4,002,864 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,637,885. The company has a market capitalization of $88.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $117.33. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.92 and a 12 month high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The asset manager reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.16. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 17.34%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.07 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 5th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 205.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on BX. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $120.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total value of $3,694,498.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 982,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $125,773,399.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total transaction of $3,694,498.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 982,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $125,773,399.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.