Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Hits New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $164.00 to $126.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Blackstone traded as low as $109.25 and last traded at $113.9020, with a volume of 1110363 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $113.37.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $176.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $199.00 to $189.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, February 12th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.57.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 1,146,789 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.16 per share, for a total transaction of $30,000,000.24. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 16,716,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $437,297,073.84. This trade represents a 7.37% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $21,610. This trade represents a 99.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Clearwave Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $344,000. NCM Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 6,523 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,005,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 152.9% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 1,740 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052 shares in the last quarter. Tempo Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $1,074,000. Finally, MidFirst Bank purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $1,533,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $143.94 and its 200 day moving average is $154.45. The stock has a market cap of $83.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $1.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 153.61%.

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.