Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Receives $147.95 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $147.9524.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX opened at $140.87 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $105.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.45. Blackstone has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Blackstone will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.44%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total transaction of $6,619,950.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 516,017 shares in the company, valued at $75,911,260.87. This represents a 8.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 19,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 1,339,180 shares of company stock valued at $35,062,433 and have sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 100,951 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,561,000 after purchasing an additional 8,321 shares during the period. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter worth approximately $1,340,000. Benson Investment Management Company Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,856,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Blackstone by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,046,859,000 after acquiring an additional 840,258 shares during the period. Finally, Marble Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $7,303,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.