Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Raised to $199.00 at Barclays

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price objective upped by Barclays from $174.00 to $199.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on BX. Piper Sandler cut Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.25.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:BX opened at $185.39 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $133.85 billion, a PE ratio of 63.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone has a 52 week low of $112.09 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The business’s 50 day moving average is $173.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. On average, analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 118.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Sather Financial Group Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 202.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 4,050 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $201,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 431,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $53,455,000 after acquiring an additional 7,692 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $1,951,000. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2,185.4% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,901,000 after buying an additional 18,117 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is 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.