Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Shares Down 5.6% – What’s Next?

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) traded down 5.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $126.00 and last traded at $125.40. 1,428,654 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 5,549,333 shares. The stock had previously closed at $132.90.

Key Stories Impacting Blackstone

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone’s perpetual private equity fund (BXPE) agreed to acquire Champions Group, a large home?services platform — a move that grows Blackstone’s exposure to steady, everyday service businesses that are less cyclical and can generate predictable fees/cash flow. Blackstone Expands Into Essential Home Services With Champions Group Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Separate coverage highlights the same Champions Group deal specifically through BX’s perpetual private equity strategy, reinforcing management’s push into durable, yield-generating private assets — supportive for long?term fee revenue and AUM growth. Blackstone’s (BX) Perpetual Private Equity Strategy Fund To Acquire Champions Group
• Neutral Sentiment: Blackstone disclosed multiple portfolio trades/increased stakes in large tech names (Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple, etc.). These are portfolio-management moves by the firm’s funds — notable for transparency but not an immediate driver of BX operational performance. Blackstone Inc. boosts Amazon.com stake with 96,625 shares
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage remains mixed: Evercore ISI reiterated a buy on BX (supportive), while the consensus across brokerages sits at a “Hold” — signaling no clear analyst catalyst to push the stock sharply higher today. Evercore ISI Keeps Their Buy Rating on Blackstone Group (BX) Blackstone Given Consensus “Hold”
• Negative Sentiment: Liquidity shock in private credit after Blue Owl paused redemptions at a flagship vehicle has rippled across the sector; investors sold private?credit names (including BX) amid fears of redemptions and mark?to?market pressure. This is a key reason for today’s weakness. Blue Owl’s Redemption Shift Shakes Private Credit Industry
• Negative Sentiment: Options market shows elevated bearish positioning: unusually large put buying on BX suggests traders are hedging or speculating on further downside, which can accelerate intraday selling. (Market data reported 20,972 puts traded, ~41% above normal.)

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $195.00 price target on Blackstone in a research report on Friday, January 30th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $185.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $199.00 to $189.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.14.

Blackstone Stock Down 3.6%

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $147.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.58. The firm has a market cap of $89.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The company had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $1.49 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 153.61%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 384,468 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.01 per share, with a total value of $10,000,012.68. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 16,525,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,818,293.17. This trade represents a 2.38% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,610. This trade represents a 99.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. United Bank increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 14.7% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 23,984 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,588,000 after purchasing an additional 3,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in Blackstone by 2.6% during the second quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 7,175 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,073,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.