Barclays Cuts Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $165.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its target price lowered by Barclays from $171.00 to $165.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on BX. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $200.00 to $199.00 in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.26.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $154.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.16, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $170.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.15. Blackstone has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 22.30%. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be issued a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total value of $3,686,390.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 453,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,814,720.56. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.69, for a total transaction of $19,852,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 695,757 shares in the company, valued at $122,237,547.33. This trade represents a 13.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders acquired 2,538,345 shares of company stock worth $65,046,628 and sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Blackstone by 105.4% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 6,878 shares during the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth $273,000. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 12,042 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182 shares during the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth $423,000. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. grew its position in Blackstone by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 14,708 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,056,000 after purchasing an additional 1,863 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.