Brokerages Set Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Target Price at $165.86

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $165.8571.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HSBC cut their price target on Blackstone from $178.00 to $174.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $166.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 2nd.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $113.54 on Monday. Blackstone has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $84.27 billion, a PE ratio of 29.26, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.79. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $131.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $149.16.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.69 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $1.49 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $5.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 153.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 1,146,789 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.16 per share, with a total value of $30,000,000.24. Following the purchase, the insider owned 16,716,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $437,297,073.84. This represents a 7.37% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $11,046,859,000 after acquiring an additional 840,258 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,065,374,000 after acquiring an additional 636,613 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,861,885,000 after purchasing an additional 179,213 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $1,275,747,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,324,989 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,251,474,000 after acquiring an additional 329,379 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.