Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Receives $150.86 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $150.8636.

A number of research analysts recently commented on BX shares. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total transaction of $3,775,461.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 899,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 765,111 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $20,000,001.54. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 7,882,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $206,039,270.30. This represents a 10.75% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders purchased a total of 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redwood Financial Network Corp boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,748 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,194,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,935 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Trivium Point Advisory LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management lifted its position in Blackstone by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 3,453 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $115.66 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $120.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.07. Blackstone has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.58, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. Blackstone’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.67%.

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.