Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Raised to $150.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its target price upped by The Goldman Sachs Group from $135.00 to $150.00 in a report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. 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 research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered shares of Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.41.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.5 %

Blackstone stock opened at $172.35 on Friday. Blackstone has a twelve month low of $88.59 and a twelve month high of $175.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $147.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $133.22. The firm has a market cap of $123.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.90%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The trade was a 0.00 % 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BX. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 12,192.7% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $908,797,000 after acquiring an additional 7,281,128 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 7.5% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,766,875,000 after buying an additional 2,546,886 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 19,048.1% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,883,409 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $247,423,000 after buying an additional 1,873,573 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,442,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Blackstone by 213.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,375,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $170,345,000 after purchasing an additional 937,084 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.