Brokerages Set Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Price Target at $170.12

Key Points

• Blackstone Inc. has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from eighteen analysts, with an average price target of $170.12.
• The company recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.03, resulting in an annualized dividend of $4.12 and a yield of 2.4%.
• In its last quarterly earnings report, Blackstone surpassed analysts' expectations by posting $1.21 earnings per share on revenues of $3.07 billion, a 32.7% increase compared to the previous year.

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $170.12.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX traded down $2.54 during trading on Friday, hitting $170.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,662,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,070,523. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $124.35 billion, a PE ratio of 45.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.71. Blackstone has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $152.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.68.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's payout ratio is 100.00%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the transaction, the director owned 37,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BX. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Family CFO Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 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.