Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Buys 84,436 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Rakuten Investment Management increased its Blackstone stake by 667.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 84,436 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 97,085 shares valued at about $15.1 million.
• Blackstone reported better-than-expected earnings of $1.36 per share for the latest quarter, while revenue rose 10% year over year to $3.43 billion. Analysts currently expect the firm to earn 5.9 EPS for the full year.
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $1.16 per share, or $4.64 annually, for a yield of 3.7%. However, the payout ratio is high at 118.67%, and analysts have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a price target of $150.86.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 667.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 97,085 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 84,436 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $15,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BX. Redwood Financial Network Corp raised its stake in Blackstone by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $537,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,748 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,194,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,935 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Trivium Point Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Zacks Investment Management boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% during the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 3,453 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX opened at $124.59 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $120.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.82. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The company has a market capitalization of $92.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.86, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.59.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 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 issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Argus decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $150.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 355 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the acquisition, the director owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the sale, the insider owned 899,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 12,355,303 shares of company stock valued at $264,789,896. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Company 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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