Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Sets New 1-Year Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $186.00 to $129.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Blackstone traded as low as $115.66 and last traded at $122.75, with a volume of 4976167 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.04.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $168.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 214.2% during the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,845,000 after buying an additional 15,205 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Blackstone by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,053,000 after buying an additional 4,688 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 909,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $139,302,000 after purchasing an additional 51,897 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $156.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $89.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. Analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share 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 dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.69%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 158.68%.

About Blackstone

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.