Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Blackstone (NYSE:BX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

BX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.00.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of BX opened at $176.46 on Tuesday. Blackstone has a 1-year low of $114.88 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.64, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $179.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $152.69. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.21%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 11.7% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 2,762 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 81.0% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 96,180 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,907,000 after purchasing an additional 43,028 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 7,594 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $940,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% in the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,587 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,044,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in Blackstone by 11.3% during the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 13,369 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.