TD Cowen Increases Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $149.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target hoisted by TD Cowen from $133.00 to $149.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays boosted their target price on Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.38.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.5 %

BX opened at $172.36 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $147.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $133.31. 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 market capitalization of $123.18 billion, a PE ratio of 60.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone has a one year low of $88.59 and a one year high of $175.94.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results 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). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 28th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 121.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.