Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Rating Increased to Buy at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Free Report) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $180.00 price target on the asset manager's stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on BX. Citigroup reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, February 7th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $172.38.

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Blackstone Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Blackstone stock traded up $3.41 during trading on Monday, reaching $149.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,210,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,255,313. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.29. Blackstone has a 1-year low of $115.82 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $109.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Blackstone by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,597,028,000 after acquiring an additional 348,751 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,341,300 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,637,266,000 after acquiring an additional 444,887 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,016,046 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,209,707,000 after purchasing an additional 681,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,987,702 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,032,400,000 after purchasing an additional 371,677 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

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.