Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by Seneca House Advisors

Seneca House Advisors reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 62.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,084 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 26,921 shares during the quarter. Seneca House Advisors’ holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,850,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in Blackstone by 1.5% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 174,401 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $20,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,633 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 30.8% in the 1st quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 246,976 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,400,000 after buying an additional 58,175 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Blackstone by 290.2% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 280,117 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,211,000 after acquiring an additional 208,337 shares in the last quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 38.9% in the 1st quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 127,062 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $14,611,000 after acquiring an additional 35,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Torray Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 18.4% during the first quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC now owns 165,160 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $18,992,000 after purchasing an additional 25,613 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings cut Blackstone from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Thirteen investment 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, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the acquisition, the director owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,145,286.72. This represents a 0.86% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of Blackstone 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 sale, the insider owned 899,669 shares in the company, valued at $113,169,363.51. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Blackstone

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citizens JMP lifted its price target on Blackstone to $165 from $190 and kept an “outperform” view, signaling confidence that the shares still have meaningful upside from current levels. Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Given New $165.00 Price Target at Citizens Jmp
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone and TPG are reportedly seeking more than $4 billion for Hologic’s surgical unit, underscoring continued private-equity dealmaking activity and potential value creation from large asset sales or acquisitions. Blackstone, TPG seek over $4 billion for Hologic’s surgical unit, FT says
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Barclays is preparing roughly $875 million of debt financing tied to a Blackstone takeover highlight active transaction flow that can support fees and investment returns for the firm. Market Chatter: Barclays Readies $875 Million Debt Sale for Blackstone’s Senior Takeover
• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays cut Blackstone’s price target to $119 from $124 and kept an “equal weight” rating, reflecting a more cautious near-term view even as the target remains close to the current share price. Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Lowered to $119.00 at Barclays
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate report said Apollo and Blackstone helped turn Broadcom’s and Anthropic’s AI chip financing into debt for other investors, which is notable but not directly a clear positive or negative catalyst for BX shares. Apollo and Blackstone just turned Broadcom, Anthropic’s AI chip bet into somebody else’s debt

Blackstone Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Blackstone stock traded up $0.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $122.97. 2,568,812 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,830,672. The stock has a market cap of $91.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.58. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $119.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.67%.

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.