Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $161.29.

BX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $162.21 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $143.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Blackstone has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $118.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 1,666,667 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BX. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

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.