Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Stock Rated "Moderate Buy" by Wall Street Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts rate Blackstone “Moderate Buy”: Of 25 analysts, 13 recommend buying and 12 recommend holding, with an average 12-month price target of $144.57.
• Blackstone reported quarterly EPS of $1.32, exceeding estimates of $1.26, although revenue of $3.06 billion fell short of expectations and declined 0.8% year over year.
• The company cut its quarterly dividend to $1.12 per share from $1.29, implying a 3.8% annualized yield; insiders also sold substantially more shares than they purchased over the past three months.

Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-five analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $144.57.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. Citizens Jmp reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. HSBC reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, July 20th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Blackstone from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.7%

Blackstone stock opened at $118.85 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $125.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.43. Blackstone has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $165.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.41, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The asset manager reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. Blackstone had a net margin of 22.11% and a return on equity of 23.16%. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 5.85 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a decrease from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. Blackstone's payout ratio is 99.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 3,767,776 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $11,077,261.44. Following the transaction, the insider owned 16,120 shares in the company, valued at $47,392.80. The trade was a 99.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Finley sold 45,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total value of $6,619,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 516,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at $75,911,260.87. This represents a 8.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 464,792 shares of company stock worth $12,205,945 and have sold 4,077,276 shares worth $37,573,644. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,307 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 54.2% during the 3rd quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 3,700 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 190,082 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $21,306,000 after purchasing an additional 29,333 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 9.9% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 21,768 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,955 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 37.5% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 91,760 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $10,285,000 after purchasing an additional 25,047 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc NYSE: BX is a global alternative asset management firm that provides investment and advisory services to institutional investors, companies, and qualified individual investors. The company manages capital across private equity, real estate, credit and insurance, infrastructure, hedge fund solutions, secondaries, and growth-oriented investments.

Blackstone invests in and manages portfolios of businesses, properties, infrastructure assets, and credit instruments across a range of industries.

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