Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Raised to "Hold" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Blackstone from “strong sell” to “hold”, signaling a more neutral view on the stock.
• Other analysts remain mixed, but overall sentiment is still positive: Blackstone has 13 Buy ratings and 12 Hold ratings, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” and average price target of $150.86.
• Blackstone recently reported Q1 EPS of $1.36, topping estimates, while revenue rose 10% year over year, and the stock opened at $120.03 versus a 52-week range of $101.73 to $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on BX. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $133.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $150.86.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $120.03 on Monday. Blackstone has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $119.55 and a 200 day moving average of $131.38.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at $90,670.32. This trade represents a 99.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 355 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 41,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% 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 12,355,303 shares of company stock worth $264,789,896. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jain Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $9,116,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its position in Blackstone by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 1,270,608 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $217,083,000 after purchasing an additional 24,237 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 142,479 shares during the period. Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 16,035.1% during the third quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $194,746,000 after buying an additional 1,133,197 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Blackstone by 2.1% in the 3rd 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 period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Blackstone

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone is helping launch a $35 billion AI infrastructure financing platform with Broadcom and Apollo, with the initial capital aimed at expanding Anthropic’s compute capacity. Investors may view this as a high-profile growth opportunity tied to AI demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reuters reported that Blackstone’s private wealth inflows improved in June, which suggests fundraising momentum may be stabilizing and could support future fee-related earnings. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone is also increasing investments in significant risk transfers, a growing market where banks seek balance-sheet relief and Blackstone can earn attractive returns and fees. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Blackstone presented at the Morgan Stanley U.S. Financials Conference, but no major new operating catalyst was indicated in the transcript headline. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: State regulators are reportedly recommending reversal of Blackstone’s $400 million TXNM Energy acquisition, citing legal violations. That raises execution and regulatory risk for the firm’s dealmaking business. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered its price target on Blackstone to $130 from $134 and kept a neutral rating, which may reinforce a more cautious view of near-term upside. Article Title

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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