TD Cowen Cuts Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $183.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target reduced by TD Cowen from $205.00 to $183.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on Blackstone from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $197.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Blackstone from $173.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.25.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $163.67 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.76, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.75. Blackstone has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $151.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $161.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 20.56%.The company’s revenue was down 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.02 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 147.43%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director James Breyer acquired 13,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $143.86 per share, for a total transaction of $1,999,654.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 68,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,912,817.16. This represents a 25.27% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 324 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $146.92 per share, with a total value of $47,602.08. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 39,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,741,192.84. The trade was a 0.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 797,148 shares of company stock worth $24,050,153. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arcus Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the second quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $739,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Mattern Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,213 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 3.5% during the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Sage Rhino Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.8% in the second quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 8,036 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WNY Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

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.