Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Raised to $157.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Piper Sandler from $140.00 to $157.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the asset manager's stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $156.65.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:BX traded up $0.78 on Wednesday, hitting $153.55. The company had a trading volume of 3,094,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,850,501. Blackstone has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $139.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $151.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. The trade was 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. 1248 Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors 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.