Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $123.65.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TheStreet downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 232 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 232 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $127.08 per share, with a total value of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at $4,349,313. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Reginald J. Brown bought 2,400 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $125.62 per share, for a total transaction of $301,488.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 16,949 shares in the company, valued at $2,129,133.38. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 2,851 shares of company stock valued at $357,137. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BX. Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.8% in the first quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 20,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,649,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $855,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Blackstone by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 303,069 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,348,000 after buying an additional 15,875 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $3,734,000. Finally, Kampmann Melissa S. bought a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter worth approximately $2,314,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $123.00 on Friday. Blackstone has a 52-week low of $80.28 and a 52-week high of $133.56. The company has a market cap of $87.90 billion, a PE ratio of 43.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $124.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 117.31%.

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.