Norges Bank Takes $1.28 Billion Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Norges Bank disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Blackstone, buying 8.28 million shares valued at about $1.28 billion and representing 1.12% of the company.
• Blackstone is drawing attention for its AI-related growth initiatives, including a proposed $5 billion joint venture with Google for U.S. data center capacity and reports of a large financing effort tied to Anthropic’s chip expansion.
• The company’s latest results showed earnings beat expectations with $1.36 EPS, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with a price target around $151.05.

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,276,548 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,275,747,000. Norges Bank owned 1.12% of Blackstone as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Family CFO Inc bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

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%

BX opened at $117.05 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $118.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $132.69. The company has a market capitalization 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.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 118.67%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 899,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $487,129,914.25. This represents a 18.20% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last quarter, 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. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $173.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $151.05.

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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