Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $154.82.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,997,581 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,504,702,000 after buying an additional 1,102,949 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,341,300 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,637,266,000 after purchasing an additional 444,887 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,016,046 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,209,707,000 after acquiring an additional 681,512 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,987,702 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,032,400,000 after acquiring an additional 371,677 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $974,448,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.9%

BX opened at $145.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. Blackstone has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $137.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

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.

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