Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Given New $161.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its target price decreased by Jefferies Financial Group from $185.00 to $161.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,MarketScreener reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on BX. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $164.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Blackstone from $176.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, HSBC dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $178.00 to $174.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.68.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.8%

BX opened at $133.78 on Tuesday. Blackstone has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $158.84. 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 company has a market capitalization of $98.79 billion, a PE ratio of 34.48, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.17% and a net margin of 20.89%.Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.69 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 2,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,610. This trade represents a 99.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 384,468 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.01 per share, for a total transaction of $10,000,012.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 16,525,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,818,293.17. This trade represents a 2.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,394,670,000 after buying an additional 1,494,796 shares in the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 21.2% in the second quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 18,785 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,810,000 after acquiring an additional 3,281 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in Blackstone by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 346,318 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $58,337,000 after purchasing an additional 7,053 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 733.2% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 13,715 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,343,000 after purchasing an additional 12,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 259.8% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 22,160 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,315,000 after buying an additional 16,001 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Key Blackstone News

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone increased its stake in AI startup Anthropic to roughly $1 billion, giving BX bigger exposure to the high-growth AI/chatbot space and potential upside if Anthropic scales. Blackstone boosts stake in Anthropic – Reuters
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone co-led a $10 billion debt package to Australian AI-infrastructure developer Firmus, a large fee-bearing financing win that deepens the firm’s play in AI infrastructure and credit markets. Firmus $10B debt package – Reuters
• Positive Sentiment: Reports say Brookfield is in talks to buy Blackstone’s Fidere business for about $1.2 billion, which would crystallize value from a portfolio asset and improve liquidity/deployment flexibility. Brookfield in talks to buy Fidere – Reuters
• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarterly results (late Jan) beat estimates — EPS and revenue came in ahead of expectations — supporting the earnings/fee-growth story that underpins BX’s valuation. Blackstone stock profile and recent results – MarketBeat
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s presentation at the Bank of America Financial Services Conference was posted (transcript), useful for details on strategy, capital allocation and fundraising but no single market-moving announcement. BOA conference transcript – Seeking Alpha
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and commentary pieces note that Blackstone’s business mix is quietly reshaping (more AI/credit activity), which adds strategic context but not an immediate catalyst. Analyst commentary on BX strategy – Yahoo Finance
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage of founder Steve Schwarzman’s philanthropic plans (foundation building) is notable for governance/branding context but unlikely to move near-term fundamentals. Schwarzman foundation plans – WSJ
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies trimmed its price target on BX from $185 to $161 (still a Buy), a downgrade to the upside case that could temper short-term upside and investor sentiment. Jefferies lowers price target – MarketScreener

Blackstone Company Profile

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.