Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Capital Group Private Client Services cut its stake in Blackstone by 79.4% in Q3, selling 43,474 shares and leaving 11,248 shares worth about $1.92 million.
• Blackstone is under investor pressure from private‑credit concerns — including record redemptions in its BCRED fund (a $400M capital injection), a ~27.8% jump in short interest to 16.63M shares, heavy put‑option activity, and analyst price‑target cuts (Barclays to $126) — weighing on sentiment and valuation.
• Despite the headwinds, Blackstone reported an earnings beat (Qtr EPS $1.75 vs. $1.54 est., revenue $4.36B, +41.4% YoY) and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.49 (annualized yield ~5.4%).

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,248 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 43,474 shares during the quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,394,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,796 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in Blackstone by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 346,318 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $58,337,000 after purchasing an additional 7,053 shares during the period. Close Asset Management Ltd increased its position in Blackstone by 16,035.1% in 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. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 142,479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 733.2% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 13,715 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,343,000 after acquiring an additional 12,069 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Blackstone News

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone and Blue Owl Capital agreed to acquire a stake in private‑equity firm Atlas, signaling continued deal flow and partnership activity that can drive fee and carry income. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone Life Sciences struck a co‑funding arrangement with Johnson & Johnson on a cancer therapy trial and the firm is exploring an acquisition of Whitestone REIT—moves that diversify revenue sources beyond private credit. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary in the WSJ highlights that large, diversified asset managers like Blackstone and BlackRock are better positioned to absorb shocks in private credit, suggesting resilience but not immediate relief to valuation pressure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest jumped ~27.8% in February to 16.63M shares (about 2.3% of float), increasing bearish pressure and potential downward momentum if shorts accelerate. (Days‑to‑cover ≈ 1.6.)
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually large put option activity — ~29,939 puts traded (up 62% vs. norm) — indicates elevated hedging or outright bearish bets from options traders.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing concerns about heavy redemptions in Blackstone’s flagship BCRED private‑credit fund (record requests, a $400M capital injection and higher share repurchase cap) are weighing on sentiment and valuation. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays cut its price target on BX to $126 from $164, reflecting revised estimates for alternative asset managers and contributing to near‑term selling pressure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple analyst pieces and commentaries are questioning whether to sell given private‑credit woes and recent share weakness, which can amplify outflows and downward momentum. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $158.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $183.00 to $164.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Blackstone from $185.00 to $161.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Argus reduced their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $165.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 1,146,789 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.16 per share, with a total value of $30,000,000.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 16,716,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $437,297,073.84. This represents a 7.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX opened at $109.92 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $105.09 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The company has a market capitalization of $81.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $137.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $151.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.21. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.17% and a net margin of 20.89%.The company had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.69 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a dividend of $1.49 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $5.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 153.61%.

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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