Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Stock Has Average Target Price of $148.71 According to Analysts

Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-five analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $147.32.

Several equities research analysts have commented on BX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. HSBC restated a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $122.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Blackstone from $140.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX opened at $112.80 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $131.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.18. Blackstone has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $166.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.67 billion, a PE ratio of 25.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.59.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.44%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 3,767,776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $11,077,261.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,392.80. This trade represents a 99.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone purchased 191,695 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.17 per share, for a total transaction of $5,016,658.15. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 8,895,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,794,659.26. This represents a 2.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 1,038,406 shares of company stock worth $27,205,951 and sold 4,077,276 shares worth $37,573,644. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,112,162,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,861,885,000 after buying an additional 179,213 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter worth approximately $1,364,373,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Blackstone by 99.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $983,690,000 after acquiring an additional 3,178,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth $605,267,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc is a global alternative asset management firm that provides investment solutions to institutional investors, companies, financial advisers and individual investors. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson, the company has developed a broad platform spanning private markets and other alternative investments.

Blackstone’s businesses include private equity, real estate, credit and insurance, infrastructure, secondaries and hedge fund solutions. Its investment activities may involve acquiring and managing companies, commercial and residential properties, infrastructure assets, private credit and other investments on behalf of its clients.

The firm serves clients and invests across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international markets.