Brokerages Set Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Price Target at $157.63

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $157.63.

BX has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group upped their price target on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup increased their target price on Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of BX stock opened at $189.02 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $136.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.96, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.49. Blackstone has a fifty-two week low of $106.00 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 118.21%.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.