Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Given Market Outperform Rating at Citizens Jmp

Citizens Jmp reissued their market outperform rating on shares of Blackstone (NYSE:BX) in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $195.00 price target on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on BX. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Blackstone from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 27th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Blackstone from $205.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $199.00 to $189.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.33.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $142.35 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The company has a market cap of $105.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.75. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.81.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released 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 firm had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.17% and a net margin of 20.89%.Blackstone’s revenue was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.69 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a dividend of $1.49 per share. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 132.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director James Breyer purchased 13,900 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $143.86 per share, with a total value of $1,999,654.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 68,906 shares in the company, valued at $9,912,817.16. This trade represents a 25.27% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 385,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.96 per share, with a total value of $9,999,999.68. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 16,332,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $424,001,642.68. The trade was a 2.42% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 783,978 shares of company stock valued at $22,058,454. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,046,859,000 after buying an additional 840,258 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Blackstone by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,362,796 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,358,334,000 after acquiring an additional 412,281 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,542,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,462,706,000 after purchasing an additional 227,416 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Blackstone by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,324,989 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,251,474,000 after purchasing an additional 329,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,071,348,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Blackstone

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat — Blackstone reported EPS of $1.75 and revenue of $4.36B, both topping estimates; record AUM and large inflows underpinned results and demonstrate momentum in deals, fees and infrastructure. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend hike — BX declared a quarterly dividend of $1.49 (15.5% increase vs. prior quarter), implying a ~4.2% yield and signaling management confidence and stronger cash return to shareholders. (Company release)
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish analyst notes — TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” and set a $183 target; Citizens Jmp kept a “market outperform” with a $195 target, both signaling sizable upside from current levels. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management/sector commentary — Blackstone highlighted AI-related investment as a major economic driver and continues to signal interest in data-center and infrastructure opportunities, which is strategic but longer-term. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor event scheduled — CFO Michael Chae will present at the BofA Financial Services Conference on Feb 10; investors should watch the webcast for additional color on capital deployment and fee trends. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target cuts to neutral — JPMorgan trimmed its target from $176 to $158 and moved to “neutral,” signaling less conviction on near-term upside. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman trims target — Goldman cut its PT from $166 to $158 and maintained a “neutral” stance, adding to the pushback from some sell-side desks despite the beat. Read More.

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.