Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Takes $19.79 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 168,200 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $19,792,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $143.56 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $128.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.57. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The firm’s revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 115.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $1,379,685.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,359,783.04. The trade was a 12.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total value of $6,619,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 516,017 shares in the company, valued at $75,911,260.87. This trade represents a 8.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 1,339,180 shares of company stock valued at $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citizens Jmp decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Zacks Research raised Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Blackstone from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95.

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.