Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock Price

Key Points

• Blackstone's price target has been raised by Barclays from $168.00 to $181.00, indicating a potential upside of 0.77% from its current price.
• Several other analysts also revised their price targets, with Deutsche Bank setting a target of $192.00 and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods at $180.00, while Bank of America reduced its target to $207.00.
• Blackstone reported a 32.7% year-over-year revenue increase, with quarterly earnings of $1.21 per share, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.10.
• Insider transactions showed significant activity, including an insider purchasing 1.66 million shares, which represents a 24,898.76% increase in their holdings.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Free Report) had its price target boosted by Barclays from $168.00 to $181.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the asset manager's stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. 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, Blackstone currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $168.71.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of BX stock traded down $0.15 on Friday, reaching $177.96. 3,595,256 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,164,950. The stock has a market cap of $129.85 billion, a PE ratio of 47.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.65. Blackstone has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $149.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.52.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the acquisition, the director owned 37,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 2,849,769 shares of company stock worth $54,932,307 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 105.4% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,874,000 after acquiring an additional 6,878 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $63,109,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943 shares during the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,747,000. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 34.3% during the 1st quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 64,614 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,032,000 after purchasing an additional 16,486 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

About Blackstone

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.