National Pension Service Has $256.69 Million Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,502,446 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,324 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.20% of Blackstone worth $256,693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arcus Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. WNY Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $576,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp grew its stake in Blackstone by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $537,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Obermeyer Wealth Partners lifted its stake in Blackstone by 2.3% during the third quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners now owns 2,993 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $511,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Blackstone

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat — Blackstone reported EPS of $1.75 and revenue of $4.36B, both topping estimates; record AUM and large inflows underpinned results and demonstrate momentum in deals, fees and infrastructure. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend hike — BX declared a quarterly dividend of $1.49 (15.5% increase vs. prior quarter), implying a ~4.2% yield and signaling management confidence and stronger cash return to shareholders. (Company release)
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish analyst notes — TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” and set a $183 target; Citizens Jmp kept a “market outperform” with a $195 target, both signaling sizable upside from current levels. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management/sector commentary — Blackstone highlighted AI-related investment as a major economic driver and continues to signal interest in data-center and infrastructure opportunities, which is strategic but longer-term. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor event scheduled — CFO Michael Chae will present at the BofA Financial Services Conference on Feb 10; investors should watch the webcast for additional color on capital deployment and fee trends. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target cuts to neutral — JPMorgan trimmed its target from $176 to $158 and moved to “neutral,” signaling less conviction on near-term upside. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman trims target — Goldman cut its PT from $166 to $158 and maintained a “neutral” stance, adding to the pushback from some sell-side desks despite the beat. Read More.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $142.35 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.81. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.69 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.49 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $5.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 132.99%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,610. This represents a 99.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director James Breyer acquired 13,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $143.86 per share, with a total value of $1,999,654.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 68,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,912,817.16. This represents a 25.27% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought a total of 783,978 shares of company stock valued at $22,058,454 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $164.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Ten equities 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.33.

Blackstone 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.