Blackstone Inc. $BX Stock Purchased by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 13.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,661 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 5,575 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,112,162,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth approximately $1,364,373,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $605,267,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,520,908 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $519,859,000 after acquiring an additional 333,798 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,353,274 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $512,250,000 after purchasing an additional 52,755 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone sold 124,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total value of $2,043,440.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $120.88 per share, with a total value of $44,604.72. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 42,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,144,411.04. This represents a 0.87% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 464,790 shares of company stock worth $12,198,198 and sold 3,992,776 shares worth $25,507,509. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $118.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $89.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.90. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $165.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.16% and a net margin of 22.11%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 2nd were issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. This is a decrease from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 2nd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 99.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BX. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Credit Suisse Group set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler set a $126.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Argus raised their price target on Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.57.

Blackstone News Summary

Investors following BX have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: Director Ruth Porat disclosed two purchases on November 9 totaling 453 shares for about $54,700. The buying may be viewed as a vote of confidence, though the purchases were modest relative to her reported holdings. SEC ownership filing
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone will provide Pfizer up to $1.5 billion to support development of an investigational obesity drug. The deal offers potential exposure to a large healthcare market, although returns depend on the drug’s development and commercial prospects. Reuters article
• Neutral Sentiment: A data-center campus developer backed by Blackstone secured more than $1.5 billion in financing, highlighting activity in the firm’s digital-infrastructure portfolio; the report does not specify a direct financial benefit to BX. Data center financing article

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc. is a global alternative asset manager that invests on behalf of institutional and individual investors. Its businesses span private equity, real estate, credit and insurance, infrastructure, and multi-asset investing, with strategies that include private funds and investment products for a range of clients. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson, the firm initially focused on mergers and acquisitions advisory work before expanding into investment management.