Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $169.3810.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $179.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $185.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $183.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $166.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 1,146,789 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.16 per share, for a total transaction of $30,000,000.24. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 16,716,249 shares in the company, valued at $437,297,073.84. This trade represents a 7.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider owned 2,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,610. The trade was a 99.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. United Bank grew its stake in Blackstone by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,024,000 after buying an additional 1,729 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in Blackstone by 5.4% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 180,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $27,476,000 after buying an additional 9,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.9% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 147,094 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,002,000 after acquiring an additional 4,132 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $118.14 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $145.42 and a 200 day moving average of $155.40. The company has a market capitalization of $87.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone has a 52-week low of $111.04 and a 52-week high of $190.09.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $1.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 153.61%.

More Blackstone News

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major shareholder Holdings IV GP Mana Blackstone bought 1,146,789 BX shares (~$30.0M), increasing its stake ~7.4% — a strong insider vote of confidence that can support the stock. Insider filing
• Positive Sentiment: RBC Capital initiated coverage with an “Outperform” and a $179 price target (large upside vs. current levels), which can attract buyers and institutional flows. RBC coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Seeking Alpha published a bullish Strong Buy piece highlighting BX’s AUM growth (~13% to $1.27T), fee?related and distributable earnings growth — a narrative that supports long?term upside. Seeking Alpha bullish
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone recently raised its quarterly dividend to $1.49 (annualized ~$5.96, ~5.1% yield), which supports income-focused demand. (See consolidated company news and filings.) MarketBeat BX summary
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone Life Sciences agreed to co?fund clinical development of an AML therapy — incremental portfolio diversification and upside if assets progress. BXLS AML co-funding
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and commentators are actively reframing BX’s valuation assumptions (some raising, others trimming price targets) — this creates both re-rating potential and uncertainty depending on fee/macro outcomes. Analyst valuation reset
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest jumped ~23.8% month?over?month to ~13.0M shares as of Feb. 13, signaling increased bearish positioning (though short interest remains a small share of float), which can pressure the stock or increase volatility.
• Negative Sentiment: Wider headwinds — rising Treasury yields, sector fundraising and fee?realization anxiety and recent analyst price?target trims — continue to weigh on BX’s longer?term valuation. Valuation/sector anxiety

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.