CIBC Asset Management Inc Purchases 72,675 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• CIBC Asset Management Inc. increased its Blackstone stake by 41.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 72,675 additional shares and lifting its holdings to 249,335 shares worth about $38.4 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with several large investors also adding to positions, and Blackstone’s stock is widely followed by analysts who currently show a mixed but slightly cautious outlook with a consensus Hold rating and average target price of $151.05.
• Blackstone reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $1.36, while also paying a $1.16 quarterly dividend; recent news highlights include a $13.1 billion Asia private equity fund close and a new partnership with Nippon Life, though the stock has also faced pressure from broader private-markets liquidity concerns.

CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 41.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 249,335 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 72,675 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc's holdings in Blackstone were worth $38,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,046,859,000 after buying an additional 840,258 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,362,796 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,358,334,000 after buying an additional 412,281 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,275,747,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,324,989 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,251,474,000 after buying an additional 329,379 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,677,997 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $799,236,000 after buying an additional 145,056 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Citizens Jmp lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. HSBC lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $156.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $151.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 2,868,069 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.15 per share, with a total value of $75,000,004.35. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 18,628,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $487,129,914.25. The trade was a 18.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 355 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the acquisition, the director owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have bought 12,355,303 shares of company stock worth $264,789,896 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $110.42 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $118.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $132.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $82.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.59. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.67%.

Blackstone News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone announced the final close of its largest Asia private equity fund, BCP Asia III, at $13.1 billion, above its $10 billion target, signaling strong fundraising momentum and continued investor demand. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone also announced a partnership with Nippon Life Insurance in private credit and real estate, which could expand fee-generating assets and broaden distribution for its alternative investment products. Seeking Alpha article
• Neutral Sentiment: Blackstone is benefiting from ongoing strategic interest in its infrastructure and data center assets, including a reported $1 billion sale of Colorado peaking plants to TransAlta, which highlights monetization of portfolio holdings. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: BX shares are falling with other private market firms after Partners Group’s withdrawal cap revived fears that liquidity pressures may be building across the private equity sector. CNBC article
• Negative Sentiment: Additional trading coverage says Blackstone is underperforming the financial sector, reinforcing a weaker relative sentiment backdrop for the stock. Barchart article

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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