Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Now Covered by Analysts at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Blackstone (NYSE:BX) in a research report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $190.00 target price on the asset manager’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Saturday, July 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.00.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.1%

BX opened at $168.40 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.27, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.77. Blackstone has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 110.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 2,538,071 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.61 per share, with a total value of $64,999,998.31. Following the transaction, the insider owned 7,506,209 shares in the company, valued at $192,234,012.49. This represents a 51.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total transaction of $104,478,673.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders purchased 3,727,877 shares of company stock worth $95,046,625 and sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Blackstone by 105.4% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,874,000 after acquiring an additional 6,878 shares during the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $273,000. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 22.1% during the second quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 12,042 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,801,000 after buying an additional 2,182 shares during the period. Narwhal Capital Management increased its holdings in Blackstone by 34.3% during the first quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 64,614 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,032,000 after buying an additional 16,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 14,708 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,056,000 after acquiring an additional 1,863 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.