Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Upgraded by UBS Group to Buy Rating

UBS Group upgraded shares of Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Free Report) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $180.00 target price on the asset manager's stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on BX. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $1.67 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $146.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,362,188 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,258,928. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.25, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $164.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.29. Blackstone has a fifty-two week low of $115.82 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96.

Remove Ads

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. As a group, analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $1.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BX. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $316,257,000. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $239,837,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,990,238 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $515,577,000 after buying an additional 835,170 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by 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.