Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)’s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $154.22 and traded as high as $173.59. Blackstone shares last traded at $172.42, with a volume of 2,181,175 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. 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 research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Blackstone from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.00.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.8 %

The company has a market cap of $125.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $180.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 118.21%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone by 32.1% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 57.7% during the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 276 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Silvant Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.