KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Has $38.89 Million Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS has increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by 6.2%, bringing its total to 260,000 shares valued at approximately $38.89 million.
• Major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired over 2.5 million shares, marking a 51.09% increase in their ownership.
• Blackstone recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.03 per share, resulting in a 2.5% yield, with a dividend payout ratio of 110.75%.

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 6.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 260,000 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 15,100 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Blackstone were worth $38,891,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BX. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 2,538,071 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.61 per share, with a total value of $64,999,998.31. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 7,506,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $192,234,012.49. The trade was a 51.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total transaction of $8,829,594.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 737,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $128,015,742.72. The trade was a 6.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 3,727,877 shares of company stock worth $95,046,625 and have sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Saturday, July 19th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $200.00 to $199.00 in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $175.53.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $166.73 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm's 50-day moving average is $173.61 and its 200-day moving average is $153.96. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $122.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.82, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.77.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released 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. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 110.75%.

About Blackstone

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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