Morgan Stanley Boosts Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $145.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $145.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Blackstone from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $124.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays upped their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Blackstone from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $118.92.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $118.40 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.74. Blackstone has a 1-year low of $79.92 and a 1-year high of $133.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.61 billion, a PE ratio of 64.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 17.30%. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Blackstone will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 205.46%.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BX. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% in the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 55,949 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,826,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,778 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,518,000 after buying an additional 825 shares during the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 3,152 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $414,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Accel Wealth Management increased its stake in Blackstone by 14.1% in the first quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 14,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,872,000 after acquiring an additional 1,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in Blackstone by 32.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 11,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,548,000 after purchasing an additional 2,858 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.