Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Raised to $199.00 at Barclays

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target lifted by Barclays from $174.00 to $199.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America upped their price target on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.25.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $185.39 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $173.07 and its 200 day moving average is $147.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone has a 1 year low of $112.09 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 12,192.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $908,797,000 after purchasing an additional 7,281,128 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 15,357.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,201,150 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,433,220,000 after buying an additional 4,173,971 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Blackstone by 213.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,375,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $170,345,000 after purchasing an additional 937,084 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in Blackstone by 468.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,107,547 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $137,114,000 after buying an additional 912,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castleark Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter worth $67,472,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.