Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Given New $186.00 Price Target at Barclays

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its target price reduced by Barclays from $192.00 to $186.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America upped their target price on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.13.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:BX opened at $176.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Blackstone has a one year low of $115.82 and a one year high of $200.96. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $162.26. The company 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.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 118.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in Blackstone by 187.5% in the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.