Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Receives $155.65 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $155.65.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BX. Citizens Jmp upgraded Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $137.28 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.76. Blackstone has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $100.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.35, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 112.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the transaction, the director now owns 37,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 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 business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 168,201 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,225,000 after buying an additional 23,420 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,563 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,235,000 after buying an additional 4,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 5,791 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $998,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. 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.