Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Raised to $175.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target boosted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $169.00 to $175.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BX. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler cut Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $169.13.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $170.84 on Friday. Blackstone has a 12-month low of $114.88 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $178.82 and its 200-day moving average is $151.37. The company has a market capitalization of $123.35 billion, a PE ratio of 58.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Blackstone

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BX. Sather Financial Group Inc increased its position in Blackstone by 202.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $926,000 after purchasing an additional 4,050 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter worth $201,000. Aljian Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,951,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2,185.4% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,901,000 after purchasing an additional 18,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,169,526 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $179,089,000 after buying an additional 36,343 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.