Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Purchases 33,428 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Asset Management One increased its Blackstone stake by 10.5%, acquiring 33,428 additional shares for a total of 351,026 shares valued at approximately $39.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own about 70% of Blackstone.
• Blackstone reported quarterly EPS of $1.32, exceeding estimates, although revenue of $3.06 billion fell short of expectations and declined 0.8% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with a $144.57 average price target.
• The company reduced its quarterly dividend to $1.12 per share from $1.29, resulting in a 3.8% annualized yield, while also taking on $1.1 billion in senior notes that will increase interest costs and leverage exposure.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 10.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 351,026 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 33,428 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $39,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hudock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.3% in the second quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 22,369 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,632,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co grew its holdings in Blackstone by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 3,691 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 2,323 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.4% in the first quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 2,625 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, GM Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.4% during the first quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 24,918 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,865,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Blackstone

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Expansion of investment platform: Blackstone closed its $8.7 billion Blackstone Energy Transition Partners V fund, strengthening its ability to invest in energy-transition opportunities and generate future fee-related earnings. Blackstone Energy Transition Partners V Fund Close
• Positive Sentiment: Additional exposure through secondary investments: Blackstone reportedly acquired part of a $1.3 billion co-investment portfolio on the secondary market, allowing it to add exposure to multiple assets without raising a new primary fund. The firm is also reportedly in advanced discussions to invest several hundred million dollars in Indian defense and avionics company Accord Software Systems. Blackstone $1.3 Billion Portfolio Deal
• Positive Sentiment: India and AI infrastructure growth: Blackstone opened a Bengaluru office, signaling a deeper presence in India. Separately, the firm is participating in a reported $63 billion AI-compute financing initiative involving Broadcom, which could create investment opportunities in data centers and related infrastructure. Blackstone Opens Bengaluru Office
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains constructive: BMO Capital issued a Buy rating, while broader sell-side coverage characterized BX as a Moderate Buy. These ratings may support investor confidence but do not materially change near-term fundamentals. BMO Capital Buy Rating
• Negative Sentiment: New debt raises funding costs: Blackstone priced $1.1 billion of senior notes carrying coupons of 5.650% and 5.900%, with maturities in 2031 and 2033. The financing supports corporate purposes but increases interest expense and leverage exposure. Blackstone Senior Notes Offering

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BX. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 2nd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $122.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Blackstone from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $128.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $144.57.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.3%

BX stock opened at $117.03 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $123.61 and a 200 day moving average of $124.84. The firm has a market cap of $87.85 billion, a PE ratio of 26.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.59. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $165.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.27 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.16% and a net margin of 22.11%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 2nd. This is a negative change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 114.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $1,379,685.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,359,783.04. The trade was a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone acquired 191,695 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.17 per share, with a total value of $5,016,658.15. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 8,895,478 shares in the company, valued at $232,794,659.26. This represents a 2.20% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 464,792 shares of company stock valued at $12,205,945 and have sold 4,077,276 shares valued at $37,573,644. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc NYSE: BX is a global alternative asset management firm that provides investment and advisory services to institutional investors, companies, and qualified individual investors. The company manages capital across private equity, real estate, credit and insurance, infrastructure, hedge fund solutions, secondaries, and growth-oriented investments.

Blackstone invests in and manages portfolios of businesses, properties, infrastructure assets, and credit instruments across a range of industries.

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