Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Purchased by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management raised its position in Blackstone Inc. by 12.5%, acquiring a total of approximately 1.29 million shares worth $180.5 million at the end of the latest quarter.
• Blackstone recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, an increase from the previous $0.93, indicating a 2.5% yield.
• The company reported a 32.7% year-over-year revenue increase with earnings per share of $1.21, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.10.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 12.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,291,063 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 143,266 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.18% of Blackstone worth $180,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BX. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 105.4% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,874,000 after buying an additional 6,878 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,109,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,747,000. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management lifted its position in Blackstone by 34.3% during the first quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 64,614 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $9,032,000 after buying an additional 16,486 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX opened at $167.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $122.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.07, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.71. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $154.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.59.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 110.75%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total transaction of $16,736,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 808,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $135,353,571.52. The trade was a 11.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone bought 1,189,532 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.22 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,997.04. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 4,178,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at $105,388,604.62. The trade was a 39.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $170.12.

Blackstone Company 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.

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