Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 171,768 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,235 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $26,476,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 153,852 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $23,715,000 after buying an additional 1,578 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $1,275,747,000. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,618 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,561,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $13,596,000. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 12,854 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,981,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 899,669 shares in the company, valued at $113,169,363.51. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total transaction of $26,246,039.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 25,832 shares in the company, valued at $90,670.32. This represents a 99.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, 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. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $117.05 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $118.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $132.60. The stock has a market cap of $86.95 billion, a PE ratio of 29.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.59. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09. 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 (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.05.

More Blackstone News

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.