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

Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $179.00.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BX. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Blackstone from $199.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, HSBC reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $179.00 to $178.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James Breyer acquired 13,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $143.86 per share, with a total value of $1,999,654.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 68,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,912,817.16. This trade represents a 25.27% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 2,538,071 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.61 per share, for a total transaction of $64,999,998.31. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 7,506,209 shares in the company, valued at $192,234,012.49. The trade was a 51.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have bought a total of 2,950,751 shares of company stock valued at $79,050,138 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Saranac Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Blackstone by 17.7% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 42,285 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,224,000 after buying an additional 6,366 shares during the last quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter valued at about $412,000. Trust Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 8,065 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,378,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $17,329,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of BX stock opened at $152.07 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.00. Blackstone has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $194.00. The company has a market cap of $112.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.45, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 22.30%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 147.43%.

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.