Bank of America Boosts Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $192.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target boosted by Bank of America from $171.00 to $192.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.38.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $172.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $123.18 billion, a PE ratio of 60.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Blackstone has a 12-month low of $88.59 and a 12-month high of $175.94. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $133.31.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

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

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.