Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Raised to $171.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price objective boosted by Oppenheimer from $140.00 to $171.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on BX. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Argus raised their price objective on Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Blackstone from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.43.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $142.63 on Thursday. Blackstone has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $190.09. The company has a market cap of $107.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $130.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Blackstone will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 115.44%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total value of $6,619,950.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 516,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,911,260.87. This represents a 8.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 371 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $137.17 per share, with a total value of $50,890.07. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 42,189 shares in the company, valued at $5,787,065.13. The trade was a 0.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 1,611,822 shares of company stock valued at $42,189,294 and sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BX. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Palladiem LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.