Swedbank AB Boosts Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by 78.6% during the second quarter, acquiring an additional 99,630 shares, bringing their total to 226,353 shares valued at approximately $33.86 million.
• Blackstone reported earnings of $1.21 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.10, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 32.7% to $3.07 billion.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend hike from $0.93 to $1.03 per share, reflecting a payout ratio of 110.75% and an annualized dividend yield of 2.2%.

Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 78.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 226,353 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 99,630 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB's holdings in Blackstone were worth $33,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,997,581 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,504,702,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102,949 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,292,320 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $739,761,000 after acquiring an additional 742,829 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,291,546 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $599,872,000 after buying an additional 182,526 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,162,867 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $581,886,000 after buying an additional 117,724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 69.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,421,502 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $323,000,000 after buying an additional 990,947 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX traded down $2.64 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $184.98. 1,618,189 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,161,424. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $172.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.61. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $136.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.77.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 110.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Saturday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total value of $16,736,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 808,757 shares in the company, valued at $135,353,571.52. The trade was a 11.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total value of $8,829,594.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 737,248 shares in the company, valued at $128,015,742.72. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 1,189,806 shares of company stock valued at $30,046,627 and sold 16,871,634 shares valued at $135,328,376. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

About Blackstone

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.