Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Given New $169.00 Price Target at Royal Bank Of Canada

Blackstone (NYSE:BXFree Report) had its price target lifted by Royal Bank Of Canada from $161.00 to $169.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. HSBC restated a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.76.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on BX

Blackstone Stock Up 4.2%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $129.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Blackstone has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $120.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.84.

Blackstone (NYSE:BXGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 5.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 103.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total transaction of $3,775,461.06. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 899,669 shares in the company, valued at $113,169,363.51. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at $5,145,286.72. This trade represents a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $1,275,747,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Blackstone by 99.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $983,690,000 after buying an additional 3,178,133 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $164,597,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 85.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,709,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $417,620,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 476.1% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,324,168 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $204,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094,307 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

Blackstone Company Profile

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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.

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