Fifth Third Bancorp Has $11.06 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp trimmed its position in Blackstone (BX) by 16.5% in Q4, holding 71,780 shares worth about $11.06 million, while institutional investors own roughly 70% of the stock with Vanguard holding ~71.7 million shares.
• Significant insider and major-holder selling has occurred recently: Bx Buzz Ml‑1 Gp LLC sold 7,477,504 shares (~$26.25M) and insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares (~$3.78M); insiders have offloaded ~9.1M shares (~$46M) over the past 90 days and now own about 1%.
• Blackstone beat Q1 EPS and revenue estimates and declared a $1.16 quarterly dividend (annualized yield ~3.7%), but the payout ratio is high at 152%, and analysts hold a consensus "Hold" with an average target near $150.95.

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,780 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 14,188 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Blackstone were worth $11,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,046,859,000 after purchasing an additional 840,258 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,362,796 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,358,334,000 after purchasing an additional 412,281 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,324,989 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,251,474,000 after purchasing an additional 329,379 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,677,997 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $799,236,000 after purchasing an additional 145,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,107,665 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $701,795,000 after buying an additional 416,933 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Blackstone

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Sources say Apollo, Blackstone and KKR are competing to buy Shell’s stake in the massive LNG Canada project — a potential strategic investment for Blackstone that could add scale to its energy/private assets and revenue potential if a deal is reached. Exclusive: Apollo, Blackstone and KKR vie for Shell stake in LNG Canada, sources say
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend coverage highlights an upcoming payout (Simply Wall St/Yahoo piece), which can support investor sentiment for BX by signaling cash return and income potential for shareholders. Blackstone Inc. NYSE: BX Pays A US$1.16 Dividend In Just Two Days
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst-focused coverage of Blackstone’s Q1 earnings call (MSN roundup of top analyst questions) may affect near-term guidance detail and investor expectations but is more informational unless new guidance or revisions emerge. Blackstone’s Q1 earnings call: Our top 5 analyst questions
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 BX shares on May 1 at about $125.79 (≈$3.78M), reducing his stake by ~3.23% — a large, disclosed sale that can be perceived negatively by investors searching for insider conviction. SEC filing: Insider sale SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research moved BX to a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), a notable downgrade that can pressure sentiment and trigger short-term selling by momentum/quant strategies. Coverage referenced by Zacks/TickerReport and media roundups. Zacks.com Tickerreport: Zacks downgrade

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total transaction of $26,246,039.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total transaction of $3,775,461.06. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 899,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,103,660 shares of company stock worth $45,982,920. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX opened at $126.56 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $93.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.63. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $115.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.13.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 152.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on BX shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. HSBC reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $156.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $150.95.

Blackstone Company 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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