Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-four ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $151.0455.

A number of analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Argus reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on Blackstone from $138.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone bought 9,486,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 9,111,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This represents a -2,529.85% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,670.32. The trade was a 99.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 12,355,303 shares of company stock worth $264,789,896 and sold 7,532,518 shares worth $30,496,500. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jain Global LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at about $9,116,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.9% in the third quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 1,270,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $217,083,000 after acquiring an additional 24,237 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 20.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 840,401 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $143,582,000 after acquiring an additional 142,479 shares during the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the third quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $194,746,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.1% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 904,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $154,489,000 after acquiring an additional 18,339 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 Price Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $117.05 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $118.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $132.69. 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 has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $190.09. The company has a market capitalization of $86.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The company had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blackstone will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 118.67%.

About Blackstone

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.