Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)’s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $154.22 and traded as high as $173.59. Blackstone shares last traded at $172.42, with a volume of 2,181,175 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.00.

Blackstone Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $180.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.49 billion, a PE ratio of 59.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 118.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BX. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,504 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,221,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 909,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $139,302,000 after purchasing an additional 51,897 shares in the last quarter. SMART Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $214,000. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth about $806,000. Finally, Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 11.3% in the third quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,907 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently 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.