Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Given New $192.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target boosted by Bank of America from $171.00 to $192.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on BX. TD Cowen raised their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays lifted their target price on Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.41.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $172.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $147.01 and its 200 day moving average is $133.22. The company has a market capitalization of $123.17 billion, a PE ratio of 60.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone has a fifty-two week low of $88.59 and a fifty-two week high of $175.94.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. Blackstone’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 28th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 115.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BX. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $614,000 after buying an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in Blackstone by 9.9% in the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,931 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in Blackstone by 7.1% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,591 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $738,000 after buying an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter worth $418,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 28,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,709,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. 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.