BNP Paribas Raises Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• BNP Paribas increased its Blackstone stake by 26% in the fourth quarter, buying 12,712 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 61,540 shares worth about $9.49 million.
• Insider buying has been notable, including director Ruth Porat’s purchase of 355 shares and Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone’s large acquisition of 9.49 million shares; insiders have bought 12.36 million shares over the past 90 days.
• Blackstone reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings, posting $1.36 EPS versus $1.34 expected, while revenue rose 10% year over year to $3.43 billion; however, the company also paid a dividend that implies a high 118.67% payout ratio.

BNP Paribas grew its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 26.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,540 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 12,712 shares during the period. BNP Paribas' holdings in Blackstone were worth $9,486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 9.3% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. United Bank grew its position in Blackstone by 14.7% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,024,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Blackstone by 1.9% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $67,703,000 after acquiring an additional 8,655 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 355 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 41,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,145,286.72. This represents a 0.86% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone acquired 9,486,795 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $182,236,000. This represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have purchased a total of 12,355,303 shares of company stock valued at $264,789,896 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $117.00 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $118.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $132.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The company has a market capitalization of $86.92 billion, a PE ratio of 29.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.63.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 118.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Citizens Jmp dropped their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $156.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $151.05.

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.

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