Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Has $14.40 Million Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 33.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 84,258 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,213 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $14,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Conway Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.4% during the third quarter. Conway Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,790 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,773,000 after buying an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 142,793 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $24,396,000 after purchasing an additional 15,022 shares during the last quarter. Steinberganna Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter worth $1,124,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at about $74,000. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $756,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $157.76 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $160.86. The stock has a market cap of $116.50 billion, a PE ratio of 45.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 20.56%. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 147.43%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James Breyer purchased 13,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $143.86 per share, with a total value of $1,999,654.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 68,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,912,817.16. This represents a 25.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 324 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $146.92 per share, for a total transaction of $47,602.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 39,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,741,192.84. This represents a 0.84% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders purchased 797,148 shares of company stock valued at $24,050,153. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $171.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $173.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 24th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on Blackstone from $178.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $164.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.89.

About Blackstone

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.