Axiom Investors LLC DE Cuts Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Axiom Investors LLC DE decreased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 25.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 428,304 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 142,871 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises approximately 0.6% of Axiom Investors LLC DE's holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned about 0.06% of Blackstone worth $66,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Family CFO Inc acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 5.1%

BX stock opened at $120.03 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $119.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.59.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.11 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. 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. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were given 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 yield of 3.9%. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 118.67%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Citizens Jmp dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $150.86.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 2,868,069 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.15 per share, with a total value of $75,000,004.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 18,628,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $487,129,914.25. The trade was a 18.20% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone bought 9,486,795 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought a total of 12,355,303 shares of company stock valued at $264,789,896 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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