Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $123.65.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Argus increased their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $123.80 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $122.37 and its 200 day moving average is $124.42. Blackstone has a fifty-two week low of $88.59 and a fifty-two week high of $133.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.47 billion, a PE ratio of 43.75, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.98. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 117.31%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 219 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $119.48 per share, for a total transaction of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,115,488.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at approximately $451,000. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 223.3% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,070 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 6.9% in the first quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,145 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,405,000 after acquiring an additional 2,644 shares during the last quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD acquired a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter worth $436,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter worth $200,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.