Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Blackstone (NYSE:BX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Thursday morning.

BX has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.00.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX opened at $165.00 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $180.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.70, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.53. Blackstone has a twelve month low of $114.88 and a twelve month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. Equities analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm 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 of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bangor Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 57.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 276 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 232.1% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 279 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.