KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Has $34.23 Million Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 244,900 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 3,100 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Blackstone were worth $34,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 1,696 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 65,513 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,296,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 59.8% in the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 22,086 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,800 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,158,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $168.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 2,849,769 shares of company stock valued at $54,932,307 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.1%

BX stock traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $177.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,595,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,164,950. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $129.85 billion, a PE ratio of 47.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.65. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $149.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.52.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The company 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

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.