The Goldman Sachs Group Boosts Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $135.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $130.00 to $135.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on BX. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an overweight rating and a $163.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $131.17.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $151.92 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $142.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.68, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Blackstone has a 52-week low of $88.59 and a 52-week high of $161.25.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1,466.5% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 106,425 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,933,000 after acquiring an additional 99,631 shares in the last quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 635,026 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $83,138,000 after buying an additional 14,435 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 110.2% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 6,062 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $807,000 after acquiring an additional 3,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Blackstone by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 20,355 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.