Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Increases Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 6.6% during the second quarter, now holding 89,054 shares valued at approximately $13.3 million.
• Recent analyst upgrades have seen various firms raise their price targets for Blackstone shares, with JMP Securities targeting $195 and Evercore ISI at $197, indicating strong market performance potential.
• Blackstone recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, up from the previous $0.93, offering an annualized yield of 2.2% amid a payout ratio of 110.75%.

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,054 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 5,534 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in Blackstone were worth $13,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 105.4% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,874,000 after buying an additional 6,878 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,363,000 after buying an additional 1,943 shares during the period. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $1,747,000. Kera Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth about $273,000. Finally, Sandy Cove Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 22.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 12,042 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX traded down $0.69 during trading on Friday, reaching $187.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,403,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,242,008. The company's fifty day moving average price is $172.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.57. The company has a market capitalization of $138.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone purchased 1,189,532 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.22 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,997.04. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 4,178,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $105,388,604.62. The trade was a 39.79% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total value of $104,478,673.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627 and sold 16,871,634 shares worth $135,328,376. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities increased their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Saturday, July 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.