DnB Asset Management AS Lowers Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• DnB Asset Management AS reduced its ownership of Blackstone Inc. by selling 8,478 shares, decreasing its stake by 3.2%, now holding a total of 255,449 shares valued at approximately $35.7 million.
• In contrast, GAMMA Investing LLC significantly increased its position by 14,608.6%, acquiring over 1.3 million shares, while several other institutional investors also reported increased holdings in Blackstone.
• Blackstone announced a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, up from its previous $0.93, representing an annualized yield of 2.5% and reflecting a 110.75% dividend payout ratio.

DnB Asset Management AS trimmed its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 255,449 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 8,478 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS's holdings in Blackstone were worth $35,707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE BX traded up $3.22 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $173.21. 3,084,945 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,165,844. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $167.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $149.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.56, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's payout ratio is 110.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Saturday, July 19th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 808,757 shares in the company, valued at $135,353,571.52. This trade represents a 11.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 222 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $170.29 per share, with a total value of $37,804.38. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 38,753 shares in the company, valued at $6,599,248.37. This trade represents a 0.58% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627 and have sold 16,850,134 shares worth $131,641,986. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone 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.