Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by Baker Avenue Asset Management LP

Key Points

• Baker Avenue Asset Management cut its Blackstone stake by 82.3% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 2,423 shares valued at about $374,000.
• Blackstone posted better-than-expected earnings for the latest quarter, with EPS of $1.36 versus the $1.34 estimate and revenue up 10% year over year to $3.43 billion.
• Analysts are mixed on the stock: Blackstone has a Hold consensus rating with an average price target of $151.05, while several firms recently lowered their targets despite maintaining positive ratings.

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP decreased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 82.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,423 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 11,258 shares during the quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP's holdings in Blackstone were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 9.3% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. United Bank raised its position in Blackstone by 14.7% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,024,000 after buying an additional 1,729 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Blackstone by 1.9% in the second 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 in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Blackstone from $156.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Citizens Jmp decreased their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $173.00 price target on Blackstone in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $151.05.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $117.05 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $118.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.69. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The company has a market cap of $86.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.93, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is currently 118.67%.

Trending Headlines about Blackstone

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $90,670.32. This represents a 99.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 899,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at $113,169,363.51. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 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.

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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