Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 21,781 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group added 21,781 shares to its Blackstone position (a 2.7% increase), bringing its holding to 824,641 shares—about 0.11% of the company—valued at $127.11 million.
• Significant insider selling has occurred recently: insiders sold 9,103,660 shares over the past three months, including Vikrant Sawhney’s sale of 30,014 shares and Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp LLC’s sale of 7,477,504 shares.
• Blackstone slightly beat quarterly estimates (EPS $1.36; revenue $3.62B), declared a $1.16 quarterly dividend (3.7% yield) with a payout ratio of 118.7%, and has a consensus analyst target of $150.95 (consensus rating: Hold).

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 824,641 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 21,781 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Blackstone worth $127,110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. United Bank lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 14.7% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Blackstone by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $67,703,000 after buying an additional 8,655 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total transaction of $3,775,461.06. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 899,669 shares in the company, valued at $113,169,363.51. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 25,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at $90,670.32. The trade was a 99.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,103,660 shares of company stock worth $45,982,920. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $124.78 on Thursday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $116.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.41. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The firm has a market cap of $92.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.63. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 $3.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th will be given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BX. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their target price on Blackstone from $138.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings cut Blackstone from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $150.95.

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.

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