Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Raises Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 138,600 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $23,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth $27,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.2%

BX opened at $133.60 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $98.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.76. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $190.09. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $151.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $158.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.17% and a net margin of 20.89%.Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.69 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a dividend of $1.49 per share. This represents a $5.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 153.61%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 385,208 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.96 per share, with a total value of $9,999,999.68. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,332,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $424,001,642.68. This trade represents a 2.42% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,610. This represents a 99.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on BX. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, January 30th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Barclays cut their price objective on Blackstone from $171.00 to $164.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.68.

Blackstone Profile

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.