SFE Investment Counsel Boosts Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

SFE Investment Counsel raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 27.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 66,700 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 14,208 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $7,670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redwood Financial Network Corp lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.8% in the second quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,748 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,194,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,935 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,686,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% in the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 3,453 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Blackstone from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Blackstone from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $124.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Argus cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.10.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX traded up $0.82 on Friday, hitting $122.97. 2,568,812 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,830,672. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $119.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $126.95. The stock has a market cap of $91.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 118.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone acquired 9,486,795 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 9,111,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This represents a -2,529.85% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have bought a total of 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about Blackstone

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citizens JMP lifted its price target on Blackstone to $165 from $190 and kept an “outperform” view, signaling confidence that the shares still have meaningful upside from current levels. Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Given New $165.00 Price Target at Citizens Jmp
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone and TPG are reportedly seeking more than $4 billion for Hologic’s surgical unit, underscoring continued private-equity dealmaking activity and potential value creation from large asset sales or acquisitions. Blackstone, TPG seek over $4 billion for Hologic’s surgical unit, FT says
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Barclays is preparing roughly $875 million of debt financing tied to a Blackstone takeover highlight active transaction flow that can support fees and investment returns for the firm. Market Chatter: Barclays Readies $875 Million Debt Sale for Blackstone’s Senior Takeover
• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays cut Blackstone’s price target to $119 from $124 and kept an “equal weight” rating, reflecting a more cautious near-term view even as the target remains close to the current share price. Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Lowered to $119.00 at Barclays
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate report said Apollo and Blackstone helped turn Broadcom’s and Anthropic’s AI chip financing into debt for other investors, which is notable but not directly a clear positive or negative catalyst for BX shares. Apollo and Blackstone just turned Broadcom, Anthropic’s AI chip bet into somebody else’s debt

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.