Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Buys New Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 238,196 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $41,070,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $63,109,000. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 214.2% during the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,845,000 after buying an additional 15,205 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $1,747,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Blackstone by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $155.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the purchase, the director now owns 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This trade represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of BX traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $138.45. The stock had a trading volume of 6,190,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,794,766. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $101.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The business's fifty day moving average is $135.83 and its 200 day moving average is $158.84. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.05%.

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.