Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock Price

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $195.00 to $180.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on BX. Bank of America upped their price objective on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.56.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $169.27 on Tuesday. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $180.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.59. Blackstone has a 52 week low of $114.88 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.21 billion, a PE ratio of 58.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a $0.86 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.21%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, 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 value of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BX. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% in the third 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 period. Investmark Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.4% during the third quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.3% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,374 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.