Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Given New $135.00 Price Target at Argus

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target raised by Argus from $133.00 to $135.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

BX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. JMP Securities reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Blackstone from a buy rating to a neutral rating and raised their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $123.65.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $123.77 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $126.21 and its 200 day moving average is $118.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $88.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone has a fifty-two week low of $79.92 and a fifty-two week high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total value of $6,268,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 393,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,294,783.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Strategic Blueprint LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 5.1% in the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 9,015 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $966,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 4,929 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 868 shares in the last quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,641 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,076,000. Finally, Coastline Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 35.9% during the 3rd quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 19,788 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,120,000 after buying an additional 5,228 shares in the last quarter. 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.