PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab Purchases New Shares in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought 406,540 Blackstone shares in Q4 (~$62.9M), taking an approximate 0.06% stake and reflecting notable institutional buying.
• Blackstone beat Q1 estimates with $1.36 EPS (vs. $1.34) and $3.62B revenue (vs. $3.45B) and declared a $1.16 quarterly dividend (3.7% yield), though the payout ratio is unusually high at ~152%.
• Sentiment is mixed: analysts have trimmed targets leaving a consensus "Hold" (avg. price target $150.95), while a Zacks downgrade and recent insider selling weigh negatively even as Blackstone competes to buy Shell’s stake in the LNG Canada project.

PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 406,540 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $62,924,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab owned approximately 0.06% of Blackstone at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 677.6% in the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 65,849 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,150,000 after acquiring an additional 57,381 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S raised its holdings in Blackstone by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 291,856 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $44,987,000 after acquiring an additional 32,200 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 127,818 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $19,702,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in Blackstone by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 45,768 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $7,055,000 after acquiring an additional 3,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $119,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Blackstone

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Sources say Apollo, Blackstone and KKR are competing to buy Shell’s stake in the massive LNG Canada project — a potential strategic investment for Blackstone that could add scale to its energy/private assets and revenue potential if a deal is reached. Exclusive: Apollo, Blackstone and KKR vie for Shell stake in LNG Canada, sources say
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend coverage highlights an upcoming payout (Simply Wall St/Yahoo piece), which can support investor sentiment for BX by signaling cash return and income potential for shareholders. Blackstone Inc. NYSE: BX Pays A US$1.16 Dividend In Just Two Days
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst-focused coverage of Blackstone’s Q1 earnings call (MSN roundup of top analyst questions) may affect near-term guidance detail and investor expectations but is more informational unless new guidance or revisions emerge. Blackstone’s Q1 earnings call: Our top 5 analyst questions
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 BX shares on May 1 at about $125.79 (≈$3.78M), reducing his stake by ~3.23% — a large, disclosed sale that can be perceived negatively by investors searching for insider conviction. SEC filing: Insider sale SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research moved BX to a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), a notable downgrade that can pressure sentiment and trigger short-term selling by momentum/quant strategies. Coverage referenced by Zacks/TickerReport and media roundups. Zacks.com Tickerreport: Zacks downgrade

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $156.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $161.00 to $143.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $150.95.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $126.56 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.63. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The company's fifty day moving average is $115.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.13. 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 (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 152.43%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 2,868,069 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.15 per share, with a total value of $75,000,004.35. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 18,628,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $487,129,914.25. The trade was a 18.20% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 9,103,660 shares of company stock worth $45,982,920 over the last ninety days. 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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