UBS Group Increases Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $180.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target lifted by UBS Group from $170.00 to $180.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on BX. Bank of America upped their price target on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $174.99 on Monday. Blackstone has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $179.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $126.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.21, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 123.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,812 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,453,000 after acquiring an additional 10,952 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Blackstone by 7.7% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 146,687 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $22,462,000 after buying an additional 10,504 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 53.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,137 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after acquiring an additional 2,819 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in Blackstone by 1.7% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 8,804 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $236,000. Institutional investors 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.