Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock Price

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target lifted by Citigroup from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.13.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE BX opened at $176.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $127.74 billion, a PE ratio of 60.80, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.53. 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 has a 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $180.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $162.26.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

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