Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group increased its stake in Blackstone by 25.9% in Q4, buying 11,422 shares to hold 55,534 shares worth about $8.56 million.
• Blackstone beat Q4 estimates (EPS $1.75 vs. $1.54 est.; revenue $4.36B, +41.4% YoY) and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.49 (annualized $5.96, ~4.6% yield).
• Institutional ownership is high at about 70%, and there was notable insider activity—one major shareholder sold ~1.6M shares while another bought ~2.87M shares, increasing that holder’s position by ~18.2%.

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 25.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 55,534 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 11,422 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $8,560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,827,437 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $12,100,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,060 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Blackstone by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,362,796 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,358,334,000 after acquiring an additional 412,281 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Blackstone by 4.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,324,989 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,251,474,000 after acquiring an additional 329,379 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Blackstone by 3.2% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,677,997 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $799,236,000 after acquiring an additional 145,056 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Blackstone by 11.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,107,665 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $701,795,000 after acquiring an additional 416,933 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 2,868,069 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $75,000,004.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 18,628,295 shares in the company, valued at $487,129,914.25. This represents a 18.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.7%

BX stock opened at $129.05 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month 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 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $95.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.26, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.74. The business's 50-day moving average price is $117.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.80.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.21. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.17% and a net margin of 20.89%.The business had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.69 EPS. The company's revenue was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $1.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $5.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 153.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on BX. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Blackstone in a report on Monday, February 23rd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $179.00 price objective for the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $158.00 to $138.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Evercore decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, January 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $156.45.

Key Stories Impacting Blackstone

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on BX to $142 (from $122) while keeping a neutral rating — the raise signals incremental confidence in Blackstone’s near-term earnings/cash‑flow outlook and provides upside to the stock. MarketScreener: JPMorgan adjusts price target on Blackstone
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and previews (Zacks/Yahoo) expect Blackstone to report growing earnings next week and highlight factors that increase the likelihood of an earnings beat — stronger fee-related revenue and realized gains from investments. Earnings momentum is a primary driver for BX’s near‑term move. Yahoo: Blackstone earnings expected to grow
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone shares rose after several major banks and asset managers reported better-than-expected Q1 results, which lifted sentiment across the alternatives/asset-management group and benefited BX as a large, diversified manager. Yahoo: Why Blackstone stock is trading up
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparative valuation pieces (IX vs. BX) are drawing investor attention to relative value in the alternatives space; these analyses may shift some flows but don’t change Blackstone’s fundamentals immediately. Watch headlines comparing Orix (IX) and BX for possible rotation. Yahoo: IX or BX — Which is the better value?
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry commentary on peers (e.g., TPG) highlights sector volatility and valuation re-pricing; useful context but not an immediate negative for BX. Investors should focus on Blackstone’s own earnings and fee-related revenue. MarketBeat: TPG and alternatives industry review

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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