Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The company traded as low as $104.16 and last traded at $104.54, with a volume of 2242672 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $107.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $183.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $158.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.86.

Blackstone Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $136.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $151.37. The firm has a market cap of $77.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.79.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $1.49 dividend. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 153.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 1,146,789 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,716,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $437,297,073.84. This trade represents a 7.37% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. United Bank boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 14.7% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,024,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729 shares during the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 175.4% during the second quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 4,891 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 3,115 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at $8,355,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.