Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Purchases 279,812 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 47.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 872,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 279,812 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for about 0.7% of Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $134,484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Jain Global LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $9,116,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its holdings in Blackstone by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 1,270,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $217,083,000 after buying an additional 24,237 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 840,401 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $143,582,000 after buying an additional 142,479 shares during the period. Close Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in Blackstone by 16,035.1% during the 3rd quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $194,746,000 after buying an additional 1,133,197 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 346,318 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $58,337,000 after purchasing an additional 7,053 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BX. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.95.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $123.64 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $116.32 and a 200-day moving average of $136.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $91.76 billion, a PE ratio of 31.62, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The business had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share. Blackstone’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 2,868,069 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.15 per share, with a total value of $75,000,004.35. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 18,628,295 shares in the company, valued at $487,129,914.25. The trade was a 18.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total value of $26,246,039.04. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,670.32. The trade was a 99.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 9,103,660 shares of company stock worth $45,982,920 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.