Legal & General Group Plc Takes $605.27 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,143,770 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $605,267,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.69% of Blackstone as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,112,162,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,275,747,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth $514,736,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 99.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $983,690,000 after acquiring an additional 3,178,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth $270,380,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Blackstone from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.95.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:BX opened at $143.66 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $129.20 and its 200-day moving average is $122.50. The firm has a market cap of $107.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total value of $28,264,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 19,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,233.72. This trade represents a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $4,066,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 869,669 shares in the company, valued at $117,883,632.95. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders purchased 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.