David Payne Sells 9,500 Shares of Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $1,379,685.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,359,783.04. This trade represents a 12.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.1%

BX opened at $149.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $112.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.56. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $125.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.55. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 9.3% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. United Bank raised its position in Blackstone by 14.7% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,703,000 after purchasing an additional 8,655 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Blackstone News

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone joined an alliance with NVIDIA and major financial institutions to fund global AI infrastructure, including large-scale data-center and compute platforms. The partnership could create new long-term financing and asset-management revenue opportunities as demand for AI capacity grows. Blackstone Joins Global AI Infrastructure Funding Alliance
• Positive Sentiment: Brokerages maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating on BX. Thirteen analysts rate the shares Buy and 11 rate them Hold, with an average price target of $147.95, indicating continued support from Wall Street despite mixed individual target changes. Blackstone Receives Moderate Buy Rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Ruth Porat purchased a combined 455 shares for roughly $62,400. The buying modestly increased her holdings and may signal confidence in Blackstone, but the transaction is too small to materially change the company’s investment outlook. Blackstone Insider Buying
• Negative Sentiment: A valuation analysis argues that BX could be about 26% above fair value based on intrinsic-value estimates and earnings multiples. Although AI data-center and energy-transition investments may improve long-term cash-flow expectations, the premium valuation raises the risk of limited upside or a pullback. Blackstone Stock Could Be Above Fair Value
• Negative Sentiment: Blackstone is reportedly considering abandoning a plan to raise approximately $3 billion of debt for a cash-return transaction. Scrapping the proposal could reduce near-term capital-return flexibility, although it may also avoid adding leverage. Blackstone Considers Scrapping Debt Plan
• Negative Sentiment: Two insiders sold a combined 54,500 shares worth about $8 million. Chief accounting officer David Payne reduced his position by 12.85%, while John G. Finley cut his holdings by 8.02%; the sales may weigh on sentiment despite potentially reflecting personal financial planning. Blackstone Insider Selling

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, HSBC reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, July 20th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.95.

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.