Analysts Set Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) PT at $119.92

Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $119.92.

BX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $120.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $116.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total transaction of $6,268,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 393,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,294,783.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 86.2% during the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 763.0% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $123.19 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $88.04 billion, a PE ratio of 67.32, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Blackstone has a 1-year low of $79.92 and a 1-year high of $133.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $126.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $117.64.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The asset manager reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.16. Blackstone had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 17.30%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.07 EPS. Research analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 205.46%.

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.