Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-one analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $171.7619.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BX. Bank of America cut their target price on Blackstone from $199.00 to $189.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Evercore lowered their target price on Blackstone from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $133.02 on Thursday. Blackstone has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $98.23 billion, a PE ratio of 34.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.76. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $157.14.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The firm’s revenue was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.69 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were given a $1.49 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 153.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,610. This represents a 99.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 385,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.96 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,999.68. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 16,332,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $424,001,642.68. The trade was a 2.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Sparrow LLC DE purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $8,849,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 81.4% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 208,161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,086,000 after buying an additional 93,402 shares during the period. Papamarkou Wellner Asset Management inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $575,000. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,205 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $648,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 36,013 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,551,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.