Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Lowered to $160.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $180.00 to $160.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on BX. UBS Group raised Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.13.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $148.72 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $108.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The business’s 50-day moving average is $163.86 and its 200-day moving average is $167.04. Blackstone has a 1 year low of $115.82 and a 1 year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. Equities research analysts predict that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 158.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 111 Capital purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $762,000. Thoma Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $800,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 23,986 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,136,000 after buying an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. Tableaux LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $304,000. Finally, Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $41,070,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.