Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Cuts Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group trimmed its Blackstone stake by 1.5% in Q4, selling 26,238 shares and now owns 1,677,065 shares (~0.23%) worth about $258.5 million.
• Blackstone beat Q4 estimates (EPS $1.75 vs. $1.54; revenue $4.36B vs. $3.69B) and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.49 (annualized yield ~5.2%), yet analyst sentiment is mixed with several firms cutting price targets and a consensus "Hold."
• Mixed market signals and insider activity: one major shareholder sold ~1.6M shares while another bought ~2.87M shares (an 18.2% increase), even as short interest jumped ~44.9% and private‑credit redemptions pose sector risks.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,677,065 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 26,238 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Blackstone worth $258,503,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,827,437 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $12,100,868,000 after buying an additional 1,335,060 shares during the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the 3rd quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $194,746,000 after buying an additional 1,133,197 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 115.4% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,088,786 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $162,861,000 after buying an additional 583,384 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,107,665 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $701,795,000 after buying an additional 416,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,362,796 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,358,334,000 after buying an additional 412,281 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 2,868,069 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $75,000,004.35. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 18,628,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $487,129,914.25. This represents a 18.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

More Blackstone News

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone is accelerating into AI/data‑center infrastructure, reportedly considering a $2bn IPO vehicle to buy data centers — a strategic push that supports long‑term growth in infrastructure assets. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone acquired a significant minority stake in Rowan Digital Infrastructure (hyperscale, sustainable data centers), providing immediate exposure to hyperscale demand and capacity expansion. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone Credit partnered with Dubai Aerospace Enterprise to launch an aircraft‑leasing programme targeting ~$1.6bn of annual deployment, diversifying fee streams and deploying capital into an income‑oriented asset class. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts’ ratings are mixed but broadly cautious: the street consensus sits at “Hold,” reflecting balanced views on valuation vs. growth prospects. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Some research notes highlight stable fee revenues and record AUM that help buffer volatility, though they flag premium valuation and credit risks. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest jumped ~44.9% in March to ~21.5M shares (≈2.9% of float), raising short‑pressure risk and suggesting some investors are betting on near‑term downside — days‑to‑cover ~1.8.
• Negative Sentiment: Private‑credit redemptions shocked the sector in Q1 (FT calculates ~$20bn attempted withdrawals), and Blackstone was named among managers facing outflows — a cyclical risk to credit businesses and fee generation. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple brokerages trimmed price targets this week (HSBC to $131/hold; Piper Sandler to $122; Rothschild/TD Cowen lowered PTs), reducing near‑term analyst upside and adding selling pressure. Article Title Article Title Article Title

Blackstone Stock Up 0.0%

BX stock opened at $114.86 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $85.25 billion, a PE ratio of 29.60, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $117.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.01. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $1.49 per share. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 153.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $195.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Blackstone from $158.00 to $118.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Blackstone from $164.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $155.33.

Blackstone Company 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.

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