Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Given New $160.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its target price decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $180.00 to $160.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

BX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.13.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.1 %

BX opened at $148.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $108.43 billion, a PE ratio of 40.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone has a twelve month low of $115.82 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a fifty day moving average of $163.53 and a 200-day moving average of $167.28.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $1.44 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

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.