D.A. Davidson & CO. Lowers Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 143,525 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,572 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $16,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Family CFO Inc purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BX shares. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Citizens Jmp decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $146.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 directly owned 899,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 765,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $20,000,001.54. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 7,882,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $206,039,270.30. The trade was a 10.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $128.73 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $119.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $125.90. The firm has a market cap of $95.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.58. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 3.6%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.67%.

Trending Headlines about Blackstone

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Several recent pieces highlight Blackstone’s upcoming quarterly report and suggest the company may beat earnings expectations again, reinforcing bullish sentiment ahead of results. Blackstone Inc. (BX) Reports Next Week: Wall Street Expects Earnings Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone also drew favorable attention for earnings momentum and dividend appeal, with commentary pointing to strong fee-related earnings, large assets under management, and a solid yield profile that may keep income-focused investors interested. Blackstone: The Largest Data Center Investor Is On Sale Yielding 3.8%
• Positive Sentiment: News that Blackstone is building a new APAC infrastructure platform and hiring a senior executive from KKR supports the company’s growth strategy and signals continued expansion in infrastructure investing. Blackstone creates new APAC infrastructure platform, hires Momaya from KKR
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan lowered its price target on Blackstone to $132 from $136 and kept a neutral rating, which suggests some caution but still implies modest upside from the current share price.
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC Capital also reiterated a buy view on Blackstone, while other commentary around real estate and AI-related ventures adds to the broader narrative but does not appear to be a major immediate catalyst. RBC Capital Remains a Buy on Blackstone Group (BX)

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.