Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Increased to $150.00 by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target lifted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.41.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $172.35 on Friday. Blackstone has a 52-week low of $88.59 and a 52-week high of $175.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.90, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $147.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $133.22.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.90%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.1% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 2,240 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,222 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Moseley Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.7% during the second quarter. Moseley Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,239 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,391,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the second quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 13,840 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,713,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 13,615 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is 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.