Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $157.63.

BX has been the topic of several research reports. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler lowered Blackstone from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $149.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.1 %

BX stock traded down $2.22 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $190.90. 1,750,187 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,421,130. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.49. Blackstone has a 12-month low of $105.51 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $166.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.28.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 118.21%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 directly owns 387,137 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BX. Sather Financial Group Inc increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 202.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 4,050 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at about $201,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 431,784 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $53,455,000 after acquiring an additional 7,692 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,951,000. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 2,185.4% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,901,000 after buying an additional 18,117 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.