Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC Purchases Shares of 6,158 Blackstone Inc. $BX

Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 6,158 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $708,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,046,859,000 after purchasing an additional 840,258 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Blackstone by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 636,613 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Blackstone by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,861,885,000 after buying an additional 179,213 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $1,275,747,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,324,989 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,251,474,000 after acquiring an additional 329,379 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research report 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, HSBC reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.52.

Blackstone News Summary

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.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 765,111 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $20,000,001.54. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 7,882,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $206,039,270.30. The trade was a 10.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 19,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,233.72. This trade represents a 99.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE BX opened at $126.96 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.32 billion, a PE ratio of 32.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.58. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.70.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

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

Blackstone Company 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.