BNP Paribas Exane Issues Positive Forecast for Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock Price

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target increased by BNP Paribas Exane from $166.00 to $178.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on BX. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Barclays lifted their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.71.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX opened at $168.22 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $174.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.48. Blackstone has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total transaction of $8,829,594.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 737,248 shares in the company, valued at $128,015,742.72. The trade was a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.69, for a total value of $19,852,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 695,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,237,547.33. The trade was a 13.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 3,727,877 shares of company stock valued at $95,046,625 and sold 16,984,634 shares valued at $155,181,346. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth $27,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter worth $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

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.