Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Given New $138.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target hoisted by UBS Group from $135.00 to $138.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Blackstone from $120.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Citigroup lowered Blackstone from a buy rating to a neutral rating and boosted their target price for the company from $116.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. TD Cowen started coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a market perform rating and a $118.00 price target for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Blackstone from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. One equities 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.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $119.92.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.9 %

BX stock opened at $121.18 on Friday. Blackstone has a twelve month low of $79.92 and a twelve month high of $133.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $126.90 and its 200-day moving average is $117.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.60 billion, a PE ratio of 66.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The asset manager reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.48 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 17.34%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 205.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 232 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 30.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,091,903 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,652,526,000 after purchasing an additional 14,396,655 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $510,355,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 96,256.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,790,996 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $429,634,000 after purchasing an additional 5,784,986 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 13,816.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,623,868 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,744,370,000 after purchasing an additional 3,597,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $290,514,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

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.