National Pension Service Buys 116,937 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• National Pension Service boosted its Blackstone stake by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 116,937 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 1,619,383 shares worth about $249.6 million.
• Blackstone reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $1.36 per share, while revenue rose 10% year over year to $3.43 billion. Analysts currently have a consensus rating of Hold with an average price target of $151.05.
• The firm also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.16 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 4.0%, though its payout ratio is high at 118.67%.

National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,619,383 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 116,937 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.22% of Blackstone worth $249,612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BX. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 9.3% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. United Bank increased its stake in Blackstone by 14.7% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Blackstone by 1.9% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $67,703,000 after purchasing an additional 8,655 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 355 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 25,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,670.32. This trade represents a 99.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 12,355,303 shares of company stock valued at $264,789,896 and have sold 7,532,518 shares valued at $30,496,500. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BX. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Zacks Research downgraded Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $173.00 price target on Blackstone in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Blackstone from $171.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $151.05.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $117.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.63. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $118.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.69.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 118.67%.

Blackstone News Roundup

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

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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