Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Hits New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $158.00 to $122.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Blackstone traded as low as $109.25 and last traded at $113.9020, with a volume of 1110363 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $113.37.

BX has been the subject of several other research reports. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Blackstone from $185.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Evercore cut their price objective on Blackstone from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 1,146,789 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.16 per share, for a total transaction of $30,000,000.24. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 16,716,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $437,297,073.84. This trade represents a 7.37% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Potential deal activity: Blackstone is reported to be among suitors exploring a bid for UK aerospace supplier Senior Plc — deal activity could support fee revenues and deployment of dry powder. Blackstone among suitors eyeing bid for UK’s aerospace supplier Senior, Bloomberg News reports
• Positive Sentiment: Contrarian analyst view: A Seeking Alpha piece upgraded Blackstone to “Strong Buy,” arguing recent price weakness is sentiment‑driven and fundamentals (AUM, fee growth, dry powder) remain strong. Blackstone: Don’t Let Sentiment Obscure The Fundamentals (Rating Upgrade)
• Positive Sentiment: Insider activity context: coverage notes insiders (and activist figures elsewhere) buying selectively amid volatility — can be read as a vote of confidence by some investors. Carl Icahn and Other Insiders Are Doubling Down Amid Market Volatilities
• Neutral Sentiment: Management defense: President Jon Gray publicly defended the credit quality of loans in the flagship private‑credit fund, calling some of the market reaction “noise” — this may calm some investors but hasn’t stopped outflows. Blackstone’s Gray: Market ‘noise’ fueled record redemptions from world’s largest private credit fund
• Neutral Sentiment: Liquidity actions: Reports indicate Blackstone has been paying out investors and managing redemptions (higher payouts/requests) — operationally relevant but not an immediate credit impairment signal. Blackstone hikes investor payouts from $82B private credit fund
• Negative Sentiment: Record outflows from flagship private‑credit fund (BCRED): Multiple reports say redemptions surged — gross withdrawal reports around $3.8bn with net outflows ~ $1.7bn for the quarter — raising concerns about private‑credit liquidity and fee/earnings pressure. Blackstone Played Down Private-Credit Risks. Now It’s Been Hit.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst pressure: JPMorgan cut its BX target to $122 (neutral rating) and Barclays trimmed its target to $126 (equal‑weight), following the redemption headlines — analyst downgrades increase selling pressure. JPMorgan adjusts price target on Blackstone to 122 from 158, maintains neutral rating
• Negative Sentiment: Large shareholder sell‑down: Filing shows Tactical Opportunity Blackstone sold ~1.6M shares (SEC filing), a visible liquidity event that can be interpreted negatively by the market. SEC ownership filing

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BX. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Family CFO Inc bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $82.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.79.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.69 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $1.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $5.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.4%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 153.61%.

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.