Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Cut to $134.00 by Analysts at Piper Sandler

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price objective cut by Piper Sandler from $143.00 to $134.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on BX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Barclays restated an equal weight rating and issued a $125.00 price target (down previously from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, April 19th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $123.00.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of BX stock opened at $129.32 on Wednesday. Blackstone has a 1 year low of $88.59 and a 1 year high of $133.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $122.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.42 billion, a PE ratio of 45.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.50.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.98. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Blackstone will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 219 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $119.48 per share, for a total transaction of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 34,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,115,488.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 30.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,091,903 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,652,526,000 after acquiring an additional 14,396,655 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $708,859,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 13,816.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,623,868 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,744,370,000 after purchasing an additional 3,597,828 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 7.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,766,875,000 after buying an additional 2,546,886 shares during the period. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $290,514,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.