State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 34.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 263,127 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 139,070 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $32,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $708,859,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Blackstone by 7.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,766,875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546,886 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $290,514,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 19,048.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,883,409 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $247,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,873,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,442,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290,324 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of BX opened at $146.56 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $88.59 and a twelve month high of $146.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.79, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $135.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.13.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 price objective for the company. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.