Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Rating Increased to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Blackstone (NYSE:BX) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. HSBC decreased their target price on Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Blackstone from $140.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Barclays decreased their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citizens Jmp decreased their target price on Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.86.

Blackstone Stock Up 5.1%

NYSE BX opened at $120.03 on Monday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $119.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $131.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.70, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.59. Blackstone has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Blackstone will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 118.67%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total value of $26,246,039.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares in the company, valued at $90,670.32. The trade was a 99.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was purchased 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 directly owned 41,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,145,286.72. This represents a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders purchased a total of 12,355,303 shares of company stock valued at $264,789,896 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,275,747,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Blackstone by 99.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $983,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,178,133 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter worth $164,597,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone by 1.9% during 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. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in Blackstone by 85.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,709,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $417,620,000 after buying an additional 1,249,269 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone is helping launch a $35 billion AI infrastructure financing platform with Broadcom and Apollo, with the initial capital aimed at expanding Anthropic’s compute capacity. Investors may view this as a high-profile growth opportunity tied to AI demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reuters reported that Blackstone’s private wealth inflows improved in June, which suggests fundraising momentum may be stabilizing and could support future fee-related earnings. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone is also increasing investments in significant risk transfers, a growing market where banks seek balance-sheet relief and Blackstone can earn attractive returns and fees. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Blackstone presented at the Morgan Stanley U.S. Financials Conference, but no major new operating catalyst was indicated in the transcript headline. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: State regulators are reportedly recommending reversal of Blackstone’s $400 million TXNM Energy acquisition, citing legal violations. That raises execution and regulatory risk for the firm’s dealmaking business. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered its price target on Blackstone to $130 from $134 and kept a neutral rating, which may reinforce a more cautious view of near-term upside. Article Title

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.