Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Raised to $145.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its target price raised by Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $145.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on BX. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America raised their target price on Blackstone from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. JMP Securities reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $118.92.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of BX stock opened at $118.40 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $126.47 and its 200 day moving average is $117.74. Blackstone has a 12-month low of $79.92 and a 12-month high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.98. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 17.34%. Blackstone’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Blackstone will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 205.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total transaction of $3,694,498.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 982,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $125,773,399.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total value of $3,694,498.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 982,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its position in Blackstone by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 121,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,002,000 after purchasing an additional 7,907 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 303,069 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,348,000 after acquiring an additional 15,875 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $3,734,000. Kampmann Melissa S. purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter worth $2,314,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1,722.9% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 504,441 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $54,046,000 after purchasing an additional 476,768 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is 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.