Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Blackstone (NYSE:BX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on BX. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.13.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX stock opened at $176.92 on Friday. Blackstone has a 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $180.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $162.43. The firm has a market cap of $127.74 billion, a PE ratio of 60.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 158.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BX. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 15,357.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,201,150 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,433,220,000 after purchasing an additional 4,173,971 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 111.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 973,348 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $167,825,000 after buying an additional 512,165 shares in the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth $67,472,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,597,028,000 after acquiring an additional 348,751 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,272,227,000 after purchasing an additional 336,308 shares during the period. 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.