Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Given New $100.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $105.00 to $100.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

BX has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Blackstone in a report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a market perform rating and a $118.00 target price on the stock. TheStreet lowered Blackstone from a b rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup lowered Blackstone from a buy rating to a neutral rating and increased their price target for the company from $116.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Blackstone from a buy rating to a neutral rating and increased their price target for the company from $115.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $118.92.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX opened at $118.40 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $126.47 and its 200-day moving average is $117.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone has a one year low of $79.92 and a one year high of $133.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. Blackstone’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 4.86 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 132.86%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total value of $3,694,498.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 982,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total value of $3,694,498.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 982,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BX. Fairfield Bush & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 56.1% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530 shares in the last quarter. United Bank boosted its stake in Blackstone by 34.2% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 8,441 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after buying an additional 2,153 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 10,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,392,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 18,446 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,341,000 after buying an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 38,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,878,000 after buying an additional 4,366 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.