Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Lowers Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,802 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 335 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,509,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 86.2% in the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 763.0% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $126.48. The stock had a trading volume of 281,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,615,193. The company has a market cap of $90.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.52. The business has a fifty day moving average of $124.91 and a 200 day moving average of $121.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.06 and a 1 year high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.98. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th were given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 117.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $119.48 per share, for a total transaction of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,115,488.60. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 219 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,115,488.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of a number of research reports. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $125.00 target price (down previously from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, April 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.65.

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.