Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $154.82.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BX. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, April 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bangor Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of BX opened at $133.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $97.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Blackstone has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.84.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

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.