PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab Purchases 17,500 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• PensionDanmark increased its Blackstone stake by 19% in the second quarter, buying 17,500 shares to bring its holdings to 109,550 shares valued at approximately $12.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 70% of Blackstone.
• Blackstone reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.52 versus the $1.34 consensus estimate and revenue of $5.04 billion, up 35.9% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $147.95, while Blackstone raised its quarterly dividend to $1.29 per share, implying a 3.8% annualized yield.

PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab increased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 19.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,550 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 17,500 shares during the period. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab's holdings in Blackstone were worth $12,891,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 34.6% in the fourth 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. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. United Bank raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,024,000 after buying an additional 1,729 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Blackstone by 1.9% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $67,703,000 after acquiring an additional 8,655 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $147.95.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.6%

NYSE BX opened at $136.86 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $123.47 and a 200-day moving average of $123.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.72.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 115.44%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 19,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 355 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 10,825,959 shares of company stock worth $224,789,900. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

About Blackstone

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.

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