Forsta AP Fonden Sells 19,700 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden cut its Blackstone stake by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 19,700 shares and leaving it with 160,300 shares valued at about $24.7 million.
• Blackstone is drawing attention for its expanding AI-related investments, including a $5 billion joint venture with Google to build U.S. data center capacity and reports of a $36 billion financing effort tied to Anthropic’s chip expansion.
• The company recently beat earnings estimates with Q1 EPS of $1.36, though revenue slightly missed forecasts; analysts currently have a consensus rating of Hold with an average price target of $151.05.

Forsta AP Fonden trimmed its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 160,300 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 19,700 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Blackstone were worth $24,709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Family CFO Inc bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Blackstone News

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

Blackstone Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE:BX opened at $117.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $86.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $118.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $132.69.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. Blackstone's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. Analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 118.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target 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. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $173.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Argus decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $133.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $151.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 2,868,069 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $75,000,004.35. Following the purchase, the insider owned 18,628,295 shares in the company, valued at $487,129,914.25. This trade represents a 18.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 355 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were bought 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 disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 12,355,303 shares of company stock worth $264,789,896 and sold 7,532,518 shares worth $30,496,500. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.