Blackstone (NYSE:BX) PT Raised to $174.00 at Barclays

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price objective upped by Barclays from $155.00 to $174.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

BX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.38.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:BX opened at $172.36 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $133.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone has a 1-year low of $88.59 and a 1-year high of $175.94.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 121.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $614,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 9.9% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,931 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 7.1% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,591 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $738,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth $418,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 28,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,709,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone

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.