Fifth Third Bancorp Buys 208,337 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 290.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 280,117 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 208,337 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Blackstone were worth $32,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Family CFO Inc bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Citizens Jmp decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Blackstone from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $147.10.

Key Blackstone News

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citizens JMP lifted its price target on Blackstone to $165 from $190 and kept an “outperform” view, signaling confidence that the shares still have meaningful upside from current levels. Blackstone NYSE: BX Given New $165.00 Price Target at Citizens Jmp
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone and TPG are reportedly seeking more than $4 billion for Hologic’s surgical unit, underscoring continued private-equity dealmaking activity and potential value creation from large asset sales or acquisitions. Blackstone, TPG seek over $4 billion for Hologic's surgical unit, FT says
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Barclays is preparing roughly $875 million of debt financing tied to a Blackstone takeover highlight active transaction flow that can support fees and investment returns for the firm. Market Chatter: Barclays Readies $875 Million Debt Sale for Blackstone's Senior Takeover
• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays cut Blackstone’s price target to $119 from $124 and kept an “equal weight” rating, reflecting a more cautious near-term view even as the target remains close to the current share price. Blackstone NYSE: BX Price Target Lowered to $119.00 at Barclays
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate report said Apollo and Blackstone helped turn Broadcom’s and Anthropic’s AI chip financing into debt for other investors, which is notable but not directly a clear positive or negative catalyst for BX shares. Apollo and Blackstone just turned Broadcom, Anthropic's AI chip bet into somebody else's debt

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $122.97 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $190.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $91.35 billion, a PE ratio of 31.45, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.58. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $119.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $1.16 dividend. 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 3.8%. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 118.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total transaction of $3,775,461.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone acquired 9,486,795 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares in the company, valued at $182,236,000. This represents a -2,529.85% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate 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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