Wealthfront Advisers LLC Increases Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 29.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,466 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,419 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $11,323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $2,149,000 after purchasing an additional 12,711 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 100,951 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,561,000 after purchasing an additional 8,321 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake 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 during the period. Benson Investment Management Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,856,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone by 1.2% in the 4th 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 during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone is expanding its alternatives platform in Asia-Pacific by launching a new India infrastructure platform and hiring Ami Momaya from KKR to lead the effort, a move that could support long-term growth in the region. Blackstone creates new APAC infrastructure platform, hires Momaya from KKR
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone is also tied to the launch of Ode, an AI services company developed with Anthropic and other investors, which reinforces the firm’s exposure to AI and infrastructure investing themes. Is Blackstone (BX) Quietly Rewriting Its AI and Infrastructure Playbook With Ode and India?
• Positive Sentiment: Several commentary pieces say Blackstone remains positioned to beat upcoming earnings estimates, with Wall Street expecting earnings growth and the company cited for strong earnings and price momentum. Why Blackstone Inc. (BX) is Poised to Beat Earnings Estimates Again
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan lowered its price target on Blackstone to $132 from $136 but kept a neutral rating, signaling a more cautious near-term outlook rather than a bearish call. Blackstone price target lowered by JPMorgan
• Neutral Sentiment: Oppenheimer also cut its price target to $139 from $156, though it maintained an outperform rating, suggesting analysts still see upside from current levels despite trimming expectations. Blackstone price target lowered by Oppenheimer
• Negative Sentiment: The recent target cuts from major brokers may be weighing on sentiment today, even though both firms still see upside and have not turned outright bearish on Blackstone.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Citizens Jmp decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays cut their price objective on Blackstone from $124.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Blackstone from $140.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.52.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $126.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $94.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.58. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $119.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.90. 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 (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 118.67%.

Insider Activity 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 stock was sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total transaction of $3,775,461.06. Following the transaction, the insider owned 899,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 765,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $20,000,001.54. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 7,882,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $206,039,270.30. The trade was a 10.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have acquired a total of 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.