Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $30.23 Million Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 41.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 230,883 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 67,880 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Blackstone were worth $30,227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 86.2% during the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 763.0% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Family CFO Inc purchased a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Provence Wealth Management Group purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on BX. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $115.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $116.00 to $124.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $125.00 price target (down from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $122.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 232 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $127.08 per share, with a total value of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 34,225 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,349,313. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 232 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,349,313. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE BX traded up $3.69 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $122.09. 3,290,820 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,722,131. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $126.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $87.25 billion, a PE ratio of 43.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.92 and a twelve month high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.98. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 132.86%.

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.