Bank of Nova Scotia Boosts Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia increased its Blackstone stake by 92.2% in the first quarter, buying 387,109 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 807,184 shares worth about $92.8 million.
• Blackstone reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $1.52 topping estimates of $1.34 and revenue of $5.04 billion beating forecasts, while revenue rose 35.9% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.29 per share from $1.16, implying an annualized payout of $5.16 and a 4.1% yield.

Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 92.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 807,184 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 387,109 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia owned approximately 0.11% of Blackstone worth $92,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BX. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 1,034.3% during the fourth quarter. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,940 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,149,000 after purchasing an additional 12,711 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 100,951 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $15,561,000 after buying an additional 8,321 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 249,009 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $39,543,000 after acquiring an additional 19,603 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,046,859,000 after purchasing an additional 840,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benson Investment Management Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $5,856,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $124.00 to $119.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Citizens Jmp reduced their price target on Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $145.71.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:BX opened at $124.67 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $92.61 billion, a PE ratio of 31.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.58. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $120.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.81. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The business's revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 118.67%.

More Blackstone News

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone reported Q2 EPS of $1.52, topping expectations, and revenue of $5.04 billion, also above forecasts, signaling stronger-than-expected operating performance. Blackstone Inc. (BX) Surpasses Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Assets under management reached a record $1.35 trillion, helped by strong inflows, which supports fee growth and reinforces Blackstone’s scale advantage. Blackstone's quarterly profit gets boost from asset pile, AI investment gains
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted gains from AI-related investments, suggesting the firm’s early infrastructure bets are paying off and could be an important long-term growth driver. Blackstone's Profit Surges on AI Investments
• Neutral Sentiment: Blackstone also launched new public-private market investment solutions with Wellington and Vanguard, which could broaden its reach with wealthy investors, but the near-term earnings impact is still uncertain. Wellington, Vanguard, and Blackstone Announce the Launch of Two Investment Solutions
• Neutral Sentiment: Some headlines noted pressure in private credit fundraising and broader market concerns around rates, oil, and geopolitical risk, but these were outweighed by the company’s strong quarterly results. Blackstone's quarterly profit gets boost from asset pile, AI investment gains

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 355 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 41,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,145,286.72. This represents a 0.86% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone bought 9,486,795 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $189,735,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,111,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $182,236,000. The trade was a -2,529.85% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Profile

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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