Analysts Set Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Target Price at $171.13

Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $172.06.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BX. Citigroup restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BX. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $316,257,000. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $239,837,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,990,238 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $515,577,000 after purchasing an additional 835,170 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Down 6.3 %

BX opened at $124.68 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $156.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.35, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. Blackstone has a fifty-two week low of $115.82 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.62%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

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.