Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Lowered to "Equal Weight" Rating by Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Free Report) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $195.00 target price on the asset manager's stock, up from their prior target price of $188.00.

BX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Blackstone from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $149.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $164.69.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE:BX traded down $2.42 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $189.99. 1,868,321 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,391,065. The company has a fifty day moving average of $174.63 and a 200 day moving average of $148.41. Blackstone has a 12 month low of $112.44 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.14, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. On average, research analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company's stock, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth $27,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth $31,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 32.1% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 57.7% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 276 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.