Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Blackstone (NYSE:BX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning.

BX has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $188.00 to $195.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.00.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX opened at $175.69 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $179.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $126.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.37, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone has a 1-year low of $114.88 and a 1-year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 118.21%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. This 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BX. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Blackstone by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 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.