Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Receives $172.38 Average PT from Brokerages

Key Points

• Blackstone Inc. has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from analysts, with 9 buy and 8 hold recommendations, and a price target averaging $172.38.
• Insider trading activity included the sale of over 16 million shares by a major shareholder, indicating significant market movements around the company's stock.
• Blackstone recently increased its quarterly dividend to $1.03 from $0.93, reflecting a focus on returning value to shareholders, with a current yield of 2.2%.

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $172.3750.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. JMP Securities increased their price target 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. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Saturday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $1.85 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $185.77. 3,037,138 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,352,768. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.93 billion, a PE ratio of 49.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.77. The business's 50 day moving average is $172.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 110.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 222 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $170.29 per share, for a total transaction of $37,804.38. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 38,753 shares in the company, valued at $6,599,248.37. This trade represents a 0.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total transaction of $3,686,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 453,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,814,720.56. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 3,727,877 shares of company stock valued at $95,046,625 and have sold 16,871,634 shares valued at $135,328,376. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BX. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in Blackstone by 105.4% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 6,878 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 6.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943 shares during the period. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,747,000. Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Finally, Sandy Cove Advisors LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 22.1% during the second quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 12,042 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.