Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Acquired by SurgoCap Partners LP

Key Points

• SurgoCap Partners LP increased its Blackstone stake by 31% in the fourth quarter, buying 491,278 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 2,074,093 shares worth about $319.7 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors holding about 70% of Blackstone’s stock; several large firms, including Norges Bank and Capital Research Global Investors, also added to their positions.
• Blackstone reported solid quarterly results and maintained a sizable dividend, posting $1.36 EPS versus $1.34 expected and raising revenue 10% year over year, while paying a $1.16 quarterly dividend that equates to a 3.7% yield.

SurgoCap Partners LP lifted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 31.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,074,093 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 491,278 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up 8.9% of SurgoCap Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. SurgoCap Partners LP owned approximately 0.28% of Blackstone worth $319,701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $1,275,747,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Blackstone by 99.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $983,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,178,133 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,827,437 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $12,100,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,060 shares in the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,133,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in Blackstone by 476.1% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,324,168 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $204,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094,307 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Citizens Jmp lowered their target price on Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $171.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $150.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 2,868,069 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.15 per share, with a total value of $75,000,004.35. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 18,628,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $487,129,914.25. The trade was a 18.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 899,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought 12,355,303 shares of company stock valued at $264,789,896 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $124.59 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $120.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $92.55 billion, a PE ratio of 31.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.59. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 118.67%.

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.

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