Nykredit A S Makes New $21.08 Million Investment in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Nykredit A/S acquired a new 179,180-share stake in Blackstone during the second quarter, valued at approximately $21.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own about 70% of Blackstone’s outstanding stock.
• Blackstone reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.52 surpassing estimates of $1.34 and revenue rising 35.9% year over year to $5.04 billion. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $1.29 per share, implying a 4.1% annualized yield.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.43, compared with the stock’s reported opening price of $125.

Nykredit A S bought a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 179,180 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $21,084,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. NBH Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Palladiem LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 26,600.0% during the second quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 267 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone bought 272,642 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $7,126,861.88. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 8,704,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at $227,533,512.66. The trade was a 3.23% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $1,379,685.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,359,783.04. This trade represents a 12.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and sold 184,500 shares worth $24,446,135. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $125.00 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $189.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $93.82 billion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.56. The company's 50-day moving average price is $134.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The business's revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 115.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Blackstone to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $149.43.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc is a global alternative asset management firm that provides investment management and advisory services to institutions, corporations, and individual investors. The company invests across multiple asset classes, including private equity, real estate, credit, infrastructure, insurance solutions, and hedge fund solutions.

Its investment activities include acquiring and managing businesses, commercial and residential properties, infrastructure assets, and credit investments.

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