APG Asset Management N.V. Invests $65.59 Million in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

APG Asset Management N.V. bought a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 393,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $65,588,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morse Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 11,232 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,720,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Blackstone by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 246,998 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $37,823,000 after buying an additional 56,559 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,445 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,203,000 after acquiring an additional 5,536 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.6% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 28,456 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,357,000 after purchasing an additional 982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter worth $3,225,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.5 %

BX stock opened at $124.37 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $90.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $155.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $166.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. On average, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group raised Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $168.50.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.