Blackstone Inc. $BX Holdings Decreased by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,400,994 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,428 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $215,949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Family CFO Inc purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Blackstone

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone is helping launch a $35 billion AI infrastructure financing platform with Broadcom and Apollo, with the initial capital aimed at expanding Anthropic’s compute capacity. Investors may view this as a high-profile growth opportunity tied to AI demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reuters reported that Blackstone’s private wealth inflows improved in June, which suggests fundraising momentum may be stabilizing and could support future fee-related earnings. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone is also increasing investments in significant risk transfers, a growing market where banks seek balance-sheet relief and Blackstone can earn attractive returns and fees. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Blackstone presented at the Morgan Stanley U.S. Financials Conference, but no major new operating catalyst was indicated in the transcript headline. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: State regulators are reportedly recommending reversal of Blackstone’s $400 million TXNM Energy acquisition, citing legal violations. That raises execution and regulatory risk for the firm’s dealmaking business. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered its price target on Blackstone to $130 from $134 and kept a neutral rating, which may reinforce a more cautious view of near-term upside. Article Title

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX opened at $120.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $89.17 billion, a PE ratio of 30.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $119.55 and a 200-day moving average of $131.38. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The business had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 118.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on BX. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total transaction of $26,246,039.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 25,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,670.32. The trade was a 99.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone purchased 9,486,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 9,111,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have acquired 12,355,303 shares of company stock worth $264,789,896 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.