Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Sells 8,217 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 27.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,758 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 8,217 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 100,951 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,561,000 after purchasing an additional 8,321 shares during the last quarter. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 1,034.3% in the 4th quarter. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,940 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,149,000 after buying an additional 12,711 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 249,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,543,000 after buying an additional 19,603 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,046,859,000 after acquiring an additional 840,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benson Investment Management Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,856,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Key Blackstone News

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone beat Q2 earnings and revenue estimates, with EPS of $1.52 versus expectations around $1.33-$1.34 and revenue of $5.04 billion versus $3.42 billion expected, signaling better-than-expected operating performance. Blackstone Inc. (BX) Surpasses Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Assets under management hit a record $1.35 trillion, helped by nearly $70 billion in quarterly inflows, which suggests Blackstone continues to attract capital even in a tougher fundraising environment. Blackstone’s quarterly profit gets boost from asset pile, AI investment gains
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted that AI-related investments are starting to pay off, with gains across data centers, infrastructure, credit, and private markets boosting profit and growth prospects. BX Q2 Earnings Call Highlights AI Strategy & Fundraising Strength
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target on Blackstone to $169 from $161 and kept an outperform rating, underscoring improved analyst confidence in the stock. Analyst price target update
• Neutral Sentiment: Blackstone is also in the final bidding for yacht retailer MarineMax, a potential acquisition that could expand its deal flow, though the impact on earnings is still uncertain. Blackstone, Donerail among final bidders for yacht retailer MarineMax, sources say
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also announced a higher quarterly dividend, which is supportive for income-focused investors, but this is a smaller near-term driver than the earnings beat and AI-related growth narrative. Dividend announcement

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic 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. Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total transaction of $3,775,461.06. Following the sale, the insider owned 899,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,169,363.51. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone purchased 9,486,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This trade represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.2%

BX stock opened at $129.72 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $120.33 and a 200-day moving average of $124.58. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The company has a market capitalization of $96.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.02, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a $1.29 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 103.80%.

About Blackstone

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.