Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Bought by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,509,211 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,788 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $173,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,046,859,000 after acquiring an additional 840,258 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 636,613 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Blackstone by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,861,885,000 after purchasing an additional 179,213 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,275,747,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total value of $28,264,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 19,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone purchased 765,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $20,000,001.54. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 7,882,145 shares in the company, valued at $206,039,270.30. This represents a 10.75% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Blackstone News

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone beat Q2 earnings and revenue estimates, with EPS of $1.52 versus expectations around $1.33-$1.34 and revenue of $5.04 billion versus $3.42 billion expected, signaling better-than-expected operating performance. Blackstone Inc. (BX) Surpasses Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Assets under management hit a record $1.35 trillion, helped by nearly $70 billion in quarterly inflows, which suggests Blackstone continues to attract capital even in a tougher fundraising environment. Blackstone’s quarterly profit gets boost from asset pile, AI investment gains
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted that AI-related investments are starting to pay off, with gains across data centers, infrastructure, credit, and private markets boosting profit and growth prospects. BX Q2 Earnings Call Highlights AI Strategy & Fundraising Strength
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target on Blackstone to $169 from $161 and kept an outperform rating, underscoring improved analyst confidence in the stock. Analyst price target update
• Neutral Sentiment: Blackstone is also in the final bidding for yacht retailer MarineMax, a potential acquisition that could expand its deal flow, though the impact on earnings is still uncertain. Blackstone, Donerail among final bidders for yacht retailer MarineMax, sources say
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also announced a higher quarterly dividend, which is supportive for income-focused investors, but this is a smaller near-term driver than the earnings beat and AI-related growth narrative. Dividend announcement

Blackstone Stock Down 0.2%

Blackstone stock opened at $129.72 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $96.36 billion, a PE ratio of 29.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $120.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 103.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Thirteen 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.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.76.

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.