Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Boosts Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 139,717 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,540 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $16,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BX. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter worth $6,112,162,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth $1,364,373,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,275,747,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $605,267,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $514,736,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total transaction of $6,619,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 516,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,911,260.87. This represents a 8.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $4,066,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 869,669 shares in the company, valued at $117,883,632.95. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 1,611,822 shares of company stock valued at $42,189,294 and sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $136.82 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year 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 firm has a market cap of $102.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.61, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $131.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.00.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 115.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BX. 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 research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Blackstone from $140.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, HSBC reissued a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.43.

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.