Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Given New $199.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its target price decreased by Jefferies Financial Group from $207.00 to $199.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Citigroup reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Saturday, July 19th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.83.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE:BX opened at $164.83 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $173.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.03. Blackstone has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a market capitalization of $121.50 billion, a PE ratio of 44.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a positive change 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 presently 110.75%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total value of $8,829,594.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 737,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $128,015,742.72. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were 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 owned 695,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $122,237,547.33. The trade was a 13.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders acquired 3,727,877 shares of company stock valued at $95,046,625 and sold 16,984,634 shares valued at $155,181,346. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.8% in the first quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 3,029 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 15.5% in the first quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 4,559 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $637,000 after buying an additional 613 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 8.9% in the first quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,641 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Finally, City Holding Co. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 22.5% in the first quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 872 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

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.