5,575 Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Acquired by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,661 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,575 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $221,478,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,667,000. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in Blackstone by 82.5% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 23,206 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 10,489 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 5.1% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 245,370 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,873,000 after purchasing an additional 11,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter worth about $15,132,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone sold 124,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total transaction of $2,043,440.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total value of $12,380,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 771,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,523,956.20. This trade represents a 11.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 464,790 shares of company stock valued at $12,198,198 and have sold 3,992,776 shares valued at $25,507,509. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 16th. Credit Suisse Group set a $165.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $126.00 price objective on Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.57.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $118.58 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $165.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.07 billion, a PE ratio of 26.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.52. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $118.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.90.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.27 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.16% and a net margin of 22.11%. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a drop from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 2nd. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 99.56%.

Blackstone News Summary

These are some of the BX news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Director Ruth Porat disclosed two purchases on November 9 totaling 453 shares for about $54,700. The buying may be viewed as a vote of confidence, though the purchases were modest relative to her reported holdings. SEC ownership filing
• Neutral Sentiment: A data-center campus developer backed by Blackstone secured more than $1.5 billion in financing, highlighting activity in the firm’s digital-infrastructure portfolio; the report does not specify a direct financial benefit to BX. Data center financing article
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical analysis said BX’s broader bullish setup remains intact but selling pressure is testing a breakout. Another report described performance as mixed, with recent monthly gains but weaker year-to-date returns. Technical analysis

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc. is a global alternative asset manager that invests on behalf of institutional and individual investors. Its businesses span private equity, real estate, credit and insurance, infrastructure, and multi-asset investing, with strategies that include private funds and investment products for a range of clients. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson, the firm initially focused on mergers and acquisitions advisory work before expanding into investment management.