Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Cut to $132.00 by Analysts at Bank of America

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target cut by Bank of America from $141.00 to $132.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on BX. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Blackstone from a buy rating to a neutral rating and increased their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $128.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. TheStreet downgraded Blackstone from a b rating to a c+ rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $122.94.

Blackstone Trading Up 3.1 %

NYSE BX opened at $122.09 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.06. The company has a market capitalization of $87.25 billion, a PE ratio of 43.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone has a 12 month low of $79.92 and a 12 month high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The firm’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 132.86%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total value of $6,268,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 393,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,294,783.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total value of $6,268,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 393,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,294,783.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BX. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 86.2% during the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 763.0% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. 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.