Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $118.92.

BX has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $125.00 target price (down from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total value of $6,268,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 393,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,294,783.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 86.2% during the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 763.0% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $118.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $126.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.74. Blackstone has a 1 year low of $79.92 and a 1 year high of $133.56. The company has a market cap of $84.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.70, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.98. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 17.34%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 205.46%.

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.