JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $146.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $125.00 to $146.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

BX has been the topic of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.38.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $172.36 on Friday. Blackstone has a 52 week low of $88.59 and a 52 week high of $175.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $147.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. Blackstone’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 121.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BX. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in Blackstone by 12,192.7% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $908,797,000 after purchasing an additional 7,281,128 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Blackstone by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,766,875,000 after buying an additional 2,546,886 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 19,048.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,883,409 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $247,423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,873,573 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,442,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290,324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 213.5% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,375,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $170,345,000 after purchasing an additional 937,084 shares during the last quarter. 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.