Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Barclays from $136.00 to $168.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the asset manager's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on BX. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective 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. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $161.29.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $1.85 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $162.21. 3,976,798 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,887,856. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $118.36 billion, a PE ratio of 48.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.65. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $143.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.98. Blackstone has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the transaction, the director owned 37,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This trade represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the company'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 approximately $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. 1248 Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 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.