BMO Capital Markets Boosts Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $134.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price objective hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $112.00 to $134.00 in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on BX. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.38.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $172.36 on Friday. Blackstone has a 12 month low of $88.59 and a 12 month high of $175.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $147.01 and a 200-day moving average of $133.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $123.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. The trade was 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 insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BX. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in Blackstone by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,931 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 7.1% in the 1st 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 during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter worth approximately $418,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 2.3% in the first 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. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.