Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lowered its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 300,105 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 14,483 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $46,258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,046,859,000 after acquiring an additional 840,258 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,362,796 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,358,334,000 after acquiring an additional 412,281 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,324,989 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,251,474,000 after acquiring an additional 329,379 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.2% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,677,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $799,236,000 after acquiring an additional 145,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 11.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,107,665 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $701,795,000 after acquiring an additional 416,933 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $121.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.16 billion, a PE ratio of 31.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $116.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.48. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The company had revenue of $3.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 118.67%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 2,868,069 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.15 per share, with a total value of $75,000,004.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 18,628,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $487,129,914.25. This represents a 18.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on Blackstone from $171.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Blackstone from $156.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $173.00 target price on Blackstone in a research report on Friday. Barclays reduced their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, HSBC reduced their target price on Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.95.

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.