North Dakota State Investment Board Acquires Shares of 25,097 Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• North Dakota State Investment Board opened a new position in Blackstone, buying 25,097 shares valued at about $3.87 million in the fourth quarter.
• Analyst sentiment on Blackstone is mixed: recent rating changes included downgrades from Weiss Ratings, Zacks, and UBS, while BMO raised its target; the stock currently carries a Hold consensus with an average price target of $151.36.
• Blackstone reported Q1 EPS of $1.36, slightly ahead of estimates, and paid a $1.16 quarterly dividend for a 3.9% yield. The company also saw notable insider share sales in recent months.

North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 25,097 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $3,868,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Family CFO Inc purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BX. Weiss Ratings cut Blackstone from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $151.36.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total transaction of $26,246,039.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $90,670.32. This trade represents a 99.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have bought 4,015,297 shares of company stock valued at $105,053,996 and have sold 9,128,660 shares valued at $46,457,920. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $117.96 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09. The company has a market capitalization of $87.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $117.10 and a 200 day moving average of $134.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.11 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 118.67%.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc NYSE: BX is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone's business is organized around several principal investment platforms.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.