Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $169.3810.

A number of research firms have recently commented on BX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $176.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $166.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $183.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $185.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, January 30th.

Blackstone Stock Down 6.3%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $113.61 on Thursday. Blackstone has a 12-month low of $111.04 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.28, a PEG ratio of 0.94 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $146.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $156.03.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.69 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were given a $1.49 dividend. This represents a $5.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 153.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 384,468 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.01 per share, for a total transaction of $10,000,012.68. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,525,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $429,818,293.17. This represents a 2.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 2,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,610. This represents a 99.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. United Bank increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 14.7% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after buying an additional 1,729 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in Blackstone by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 180,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,476,000 after buying an additional 9,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 147,094 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $22,002,000 after acquiring an additional 4,132 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.