Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Given New $157.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price objective upped by BMO Capital Markets from $134.00 to $157.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on BX. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.13.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of BX stock opened at $168.91 on Thursday. Blackstone has a 52-week low of $114.88 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $121.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $178.46 and a 200-day moving average of $150.78.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’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. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lantz Financial LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 2,762 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 16,130 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,997,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 37.1% during the 2nd quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 2,491 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,881 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 432 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.