Vantage Investment Partners LLC Purchases 35,557 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Vantage Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 38.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 127,062 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,557 shares during the quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $14,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,275,747,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 99.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $983,690,000 after buying an additional 3,178,133 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 85.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,709,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $417,620,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249,269 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in Blackstone by 476.1% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,324,168 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $204,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 840,258 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on BX. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Argus reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone acquired 9,486,795 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was acquired 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 owned 9,111,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This trade represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $3,775,461.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 899,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have bought 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX traded up $0.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $122.97. 2,568,812 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,830,672. The firm has a market capitalization 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $119.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $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 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 118.67%.

Blackstone 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.