Lido Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Lido Advisors LLC cut its Blackstone stake by 26.4% in the first quarter, selling 29,676 shares and leaving it with 82,522 shares valued at about $9.49 million.
• Blackstone’s latest quarterly results were strong, with EPS of $1.52 and revenue of $5.04 billion, both beating analyst expectations. Revenue rose 35.9% year over year, and assets under management hit a record $1.35 trillion.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.29 per share from $1.16, implying a 4.1% yield, even as analysts maintained a mixed-but-bullish stance with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating.

Lido Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 26.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 82,522 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 29,676 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $9,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. B&D White Capital Company LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter worth $701,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 427,819 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $49,195,000 after buying an additional 64,966 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Family Trust bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth about $226,000. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. lifted its position in Blackstone by 3,029.0% during the 1st quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 46,309 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,325,000 after acquiring an additional 44,829 shares during the period. Finally, Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 88.1% during the first quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,332 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $728,000 after acquiring an additional 2,966 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BX. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $124.00 to $119.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Blackstone from $140.00 to $133.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings cut Blackstone from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $145.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone acquired 9,486,795 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders purchased 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

More Blackstone News

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone reported Q2 EPS of $1.52, topping expectations, and revenue of $5.04 billion, also above forecasts, signaling stronger-than-expected operating performance. Blackstone Inc. (BX) Surpasses Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Assets under management reached a record $1.35 trillion, helped by strong inflows, which supports fee growth and reinforces Blackstone’s scale advantage. Blackstone's quarterly profit gets boost from asset pile, AI investment gains
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted gains from AI-related investments, suggesting the firm’s early infrastructure bets are paying off and could be an important long-term growth driver. Blackstone's Profit Surges on AI Investments
• Neutral Sentiment: Blackstone also launched new public-private market investment solutions with Wellington and Vanguard, which could broaden its reach with wealthy investors, but the near-term earnings impact is still uncertain. Wellington, Vanguard, and Blackstone Announce the Launch of Two Investment Solutions
• Neutral Sentiment: Some headlines noted pressure in private credit fundraising and broader market concerns around rates, oil, and geopolitical risk, but these were outweighed by the company’s strong quarterly results. Blackstone's quarterly profit gets boost from asset pile, AI investment gains

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $124.67 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $120.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.81. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $92.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.88, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a $1.29 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 118.67%.

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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