Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Blackstone has an average analyst rating of “Hold” from 24 analysts, with 12 buy ratings, 11 hold ratings, and 1 sell rating. The consensus 1-year price target is about $151.05.
• The company recently reported quarterly earnings of $1.36 per share, topping estimates, while revenue of $3.43 billion came in slightly below expectations. Revenue still rose 10% year over year, and analysts expect full-year EPS of 5.9.
• Blackstone also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.16 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 4.0%. However, the payout ratio is elevated at 118.67%, and recent insider sales plus mixed analyst revisions add some caution.

Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the twenty-four analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $151.0455.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $173.00 price target on Blackstone in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research lowered Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on Blackstone from $138.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Blackstone from $171.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $475,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 125,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,375,000. This represents a 16.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total value of $26,246,039.04. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,670.32. This represents a 99.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 12,355,303 shares of company stock worth $264,789,896 and have sold 7,532,518 shares worth $30,496,500. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. United Bank boosted its stake in Blackstone by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $67,703,000 after purchasing an additional 8,655 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $117.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $86.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.63. Blackstone has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $190.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $132.69.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.Blackstone's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. 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 currently 118.67%.

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

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.

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