Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Raised to $157.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price objective increased by BMO Capital Markets from $134.00 to $157.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler downgraded Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.13.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX opened at $170.84 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $178.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $151.37. Blackstone has a 52-week low of $114.88 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. As a group, analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BX. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its position in Blackstone by 57.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 276 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.