Argus Cuts Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $163.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target trimmed by Argus from $195.00 to $163.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,MarketScreener reports. They currently have a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

BX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $199.00 to $189.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, January 30th. HSBC lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $178.00 to $174.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.77.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of BX stock opened at $129.73 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.76. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.64. Blackstone has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a $1.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 132.99%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 384,468 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.01 per share, with a total value of $10,000,012.68. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 16,525,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $429,818,293.17. This represents a 2.38% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 324 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $146.92 per share, with a total value of $47,602.08. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 39,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,741,192.84. This trade represents a 0.84% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders acquired a total of 770,078 shares of company stock worth $20,058,800 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Family CFO Inc acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by 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.