Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Purchased by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 7.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 922,139 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 67,163 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.12% of Blackstone worth $157,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,827,437 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,100,868,000 after buying an additional 1,335,060 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,542,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,462,706,000 after acquiring an additional 227,416 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,071,348,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.2% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,677,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $799,236,000 after purchasing an additional 145,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,200,194 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $628,265,000 after purchasing an additional 37,327 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, January 30th. Argus cut their price objective on Blackstone from $195.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Blackstone from $183.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Blackstone from $185.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $164.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.86.

Key Stories Impacting Blackstone

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone and Blue Owl Capital agreed to acquire a stake in private‑equity firm Atlas, signaling continued deal flow and partnership activity that can drive fee and carry income. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone Life Sciences struck a co‑funding arrangement with Johnson & Johnson on a cancer therapy trial and the firm is exploring an acquisition of Whitestone REIT—moves that diversify revenue sources beyond private credit. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary in the WSJ highlights that large, diversified asset managers like Blackstone and BlackRock are better positioned to absorb shocks in private credit, suggesting resilience but not immediate relief to valuation pressure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest jumped ~27.8% in February to 16.63M shares (about 2.3% of float), increasing bearish pressure and potential downward momentum if shorts accelerate. (Days‑to‑cover ≈ 1.6.)
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually large put option activity — ~29,939 puts traded (up 62% vs. norm) — indicates elevated hedging or outright bearish bets from options traders.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing concerns about heavy redemptions in Blackstone’s flagship BCRED private‑credit fund (record requests, a $400M capital injection and higher share repurchase cap) are weighing on sentiment and valuation. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays cut its price target on BX to $126 from $164, reflecting revised estimates for alternative asset managers and contributing to near‑term selling pressure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple analyst pieces and commentaries are questioning whether to sell given private‑credit woes and recent share weakness, which can amplify outflows and downward momentum. Article Title

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $109.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.58 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $137.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $151.68. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $105.09 and a 12 month high of $190.09.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $1.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.4%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 153.61%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 1,146,789 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.16 per share, with a total value of $30,000,000.24. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,716,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $437,297,073.84. This represents a 7.37% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.