Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Makes New $419,000 Investment in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,558 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $419,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,112,162,000. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,065,374,000 after acquiring an additional 636,613 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,861,885,000 after acquiring an additional 179,213 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Blackstone by 3.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,538,067 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,326,762,000 after purchasing an additional 384,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,275,747,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.2%

BX opened at $143.34 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. 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 market cap of $107.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $129.51 and its 200 day moving average is $122.57.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $1,379,685.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 371 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $137.17 per share, with a total value of $50,890.07. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 42,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,787,065.13. The trade was a 0.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 1,611,822 shares of company stock valued at $42,189,294 and have sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings raised Blackstone from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.95.

Blackstone Company 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.