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

Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eighteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine equities research 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 analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $154.82.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays raised their price target on Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock traded down $1.74 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $131.80. 5,750,406 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,769,228. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.62. Blackstone has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Research analysts predict that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BX. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,790,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,970,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,687 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 11,035 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,903,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. 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.