Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec Buys 14,331 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• The Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by 15.0%, acquiring an additional 14,331 shares, bringing its total to 109,996 shares valued at approximately $15.4 million.
• Blackstone has experienced a positive outlook from analysts, with multiple firms raising their price targets, leading to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $172.38.
• The company also announced a $1.03 quarterly dividend, reflecting a yield of 2.4% and an increase from its previous dividend of $0.93, demonstrating a strong commitment to shareholder returns.

Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec lifted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 15.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 109,996 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 14,331 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec's holdings in Blackstone were worth $15,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Perbak Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter worth approximately $225,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at $5,213,000. First Manhattan CO. LLC. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 301.7% in the first quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 137,089 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $19,162,000 after acquiring an additional 102,959 shares in the last quarter. 1248 Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 357.8% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 10,515 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,470,000 after acquiring an additional 8,218 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on BX. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Saturday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 222 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $170.29 per share, for a total transaction of $37,804.38. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 38,753 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,599,248.37. This trade represents a 0.58% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.97, for a total value of $1,597,718.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 54,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,261,325.36. This represents a 14.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627 and sold 16,850,134 shares worth $131,641,986. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX opened at $169.54 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $166.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $149.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $124.97 billion, a PE ratio of 45.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.77. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Blackstone's revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 110.75%.

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.

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