Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Upgraded at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Blackstone (NYSE:BX) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently commented on BX. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Citigroup restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Saturday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.53.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $168.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $173.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.80. Blackstone has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $124.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.27, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.77.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for 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%.Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $1.03 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone purchased 1,189,532 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.22 per share, with a total value of $29,999,997.04. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 4,178,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $105,388,604.62. This trade represents a 39.79% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.69, for a total value of $19,852,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 695,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $122,237,547.33. The trade was a 13.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 3,727,877 shares of company stock worth $95,046,625 and have sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arcus Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Mattern Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,213 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 8,036 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,202,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WNY Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $576,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

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.