Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Cut to $163.00 by Analysts at Argus

Blackstone (NYSE:BXFree Report) had its price objective lowered by Argus from $195.00 to $163.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $183.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 13th. HSBC dropped their price target on Blackstone from $178.00 to $174.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.77.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Blackstone

Blackstone Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:BX opened at $134.55 on Wednesday. Blackstone has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $152.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $160.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BXGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.21. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The business had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.49 per share. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 132.99%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 324 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $146.92 per share, for a total transaction of $47,602.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 39,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,741,192.84. The trade was a 0.84% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,610. This represents a 99.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders purchased a total of 770,078 shares of company stock valued at $20,058,800 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Family CFO Inc acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Blackstone

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Blackstone Company Profile

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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.

Further Reading

Analyst Recommendations for Blackstone (NYSE:BX)

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