Barclays Cuts Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $186.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price objective reduced by Barclays from $192.00 to $186.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on BX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.13.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $176.92 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $180.15 and a 200 day moving average of $162.43. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $127.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.53. Blackstone has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. As a group, research analysts expect that Blackstone will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 158.68%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Bangor Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone

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.