Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Purchased by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,187,110 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 180,422 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $645,401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Family CFO Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 25,832 shares in the company, valued at $90,670.32. The trade was a 99.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 899,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought 12,355,303 shares of company stock worth $264,789,896 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Blackstone

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone announced the final close of its largest Asia private equity fund, BCP Asia III, at $13.1 billion, above its $10 billion target, signaling strong fundraising momentum and continued investor demand. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone also announced a partnership with Nippon Life Insurance in private credit and real estate, which could expand fee-generating assets and broaden distribution for its alternative investment products. Seeking Alpha article
• Neutral Sentiment: Blackstone is benefiting from ongoing strategic interest in its infrastructure and data center assets, including a reported $1 billion sale of Colorado peaking plants to TransAlta, which highlights monetization of portfolio holdings. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: BX shares are falling with other private market firms after Partners Group’s withdrawal cap revived fears that liquidity pressures may be building across the private equity sector. CNBC article
• Negative Sentiment: Additional trading coverage says Blackstone is underperforming the financial sector, reinforcing a weaker relative sentiment backdrop for the stock. Barchart article

Blackstone Stock Down 3.9%

Blackstone stock opened at $110.42 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $118.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $132.00. The firm has a market cap of $82.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.59.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 118.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Blackstone from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings cut Blackstone from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen lowered 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. Finally, Argus lowered their price target on Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.05.

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.