Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $184.34 and last traded at $183.85, with a volume of 432279 shares. The stock had previously closed at $181.56.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on BX. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.63.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $130.94 billion, a PE ratio of 62.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.02.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. Equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were given a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % 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

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 2.3% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,374 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by 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.