Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the twenty-one brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $171.7619.

BX has been the subject of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 12th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $195.00 price objective on Blackstone in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, HSBC dropped their target price on Blackstone from $178.00 to $174.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 384,468 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.01 per share, for a total transaction of $10,000,012.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,525,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $429,818,293.17. The trade was a 2.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at $21,610. The trade was a 99.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.5% during the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. WNY Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 1.7% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% in the second quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the third quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners now owns 2,993 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $511,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 15,116 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,583,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX opened at $133.02 on Thursday. Blackstone has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.14.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.17% and a net margin of 20.89%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.69 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a $1.49 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $5.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 153.61%.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.