National Pension Service Increases Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

National Pension Service lifted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,619,383 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 116,937 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $249,612,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BX. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Family CFO Inc purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total value of $26,246,039.04. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,670.32. The trade was a 99.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 41,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 12,355,303 shares of company stock valued at $264,789,896 and sold 7,532,518 shares valued at $30,496,500. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Blackstone from $140.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.05.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of BX opened at $117.05 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $190.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $118.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $132.69. The firm has a market cap of $86.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.93, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 118.67%.

Key Headlines Impacting Blackstone

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone is expanding its AI infrastructure exposure through a new $5 billion joint venture with Google to build U.S.-based data center capacity and provide TPU compute services, giving investors a new growth angle tied to AI demand. Blackstone (BX) to Invest $5B in TPU Cloud Joint Venture with Google
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone was also mentioned in reports that it and Apollo are arranging about $36 billion in financing tied to Anthropic’s AI chip expansion, reinforcing the firm’s role in large-scale AI-related capital deployment. Apollo, Blackstone work on $36 billion debt deal for Anthropic, Bloomberg News reports
• Positive Sentiment: DBS Bank upgraded Blackstone to “moderate buy,” which can bolster investor sentiment around the stock. Blackstone was upgraded by Dbs Bank to moderate buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Blackstone announced that President and COO Jon Gray will present at Morgan Stanley’s U.S. Financials Conference on June 9, which is mainly a visibility event rather than a direct business catalyst. Blackstone to Present at Morgan Stanley’s US Financials Conference
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Blackstone plans to sell a Seattle office building at roughly a 54% loss highlight ongoing stress in office real estate, a potential headwind for investor sentiment toward parts of Blackstone’s portfolio. Blackstone to sell Seattle office building for ~54% below purchase price – report
• Negative Sentiment: Another article said Blackstone is facing valuation questions in the broader market, which can add to uncertainty around the stock’s pricing. Blackstone Swings Put S&P 500 Valuation In Focus

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.