Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd Raises Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd increased its Blackstone stake by 21.9% in Q1, buying 35,000 more shares and bringing its total holdings to 195,000 shares valued at about $22.5 million.
• Blackstone reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $1.36 per share, topping estimates, with revenue up 10% year over year to $3.43 billion.
• The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.16 per share (4.0% annualized yield), though recent insider selling and a high payout ratio of 118.67% may be points of attention for investors.

Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 21.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 195,000 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 35,000 shares during the quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd's holdings in Blackstone were worth $22,492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Redwood Financial Network Corp boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.8% in the second quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,748 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,194,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,935 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,686,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.1% in the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 3,453 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $590,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX opened at $115.66 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $120.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $129.22. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The company has a market cap of $85.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.58, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.67%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total transaction of $3,775,461.06. Following the sale, the insider owned 899,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at $113,169,363.51. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 19,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at $73,233.72. This trade represents a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BX. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Blackstone from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $150.86.

Blackstone 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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