Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Grows Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 228,031 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,999 shares during the quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $38,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,071,348,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,394,670,000 after buying an additional 1,494,796 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 31.9% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,803,344 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $568,902,000 after buying an additional 919,773 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 115.4% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,088,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $162,861,000 after acquiring an additional 583,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Blackstone by 19.9% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 2,904,030 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $444,494,000 after acquiring an additional 482,528 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.)

Blackstone Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $121.20 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $89.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.76. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.50.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Blackstone from $183.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.14.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,610. This trade represents a 99.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 384,468 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.01 per share, with a total value of $10,000,012.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 16,525,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $429,818,293.17. The trade was a 2.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.