Piper Sandler Raises Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $149.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its target price boosted by Piper Sandler from $134.00 to $149.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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, April 19th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $126.38.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX opened at $138.59 on Friday. Blackstone has a 1-year low of $88.59 and a 1-year high of $142.04. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $124.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.38. The company has a market capitalization of $99.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced 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. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $119.48 per share, for a total transaction of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,115,488.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 219 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the purchase, the director now owns 34,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.