Morgan Stanley Boosts Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $177.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $164.00 to $177.00 in a research note published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on BX. Bank of America raised their price target on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler cut Blackstone from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $149.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a neutral rating and a $134.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Blackstone from $163.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $135.00.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $153.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.08, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone has a fifty-two week low of $88.59 and a fifty-two week high of $161.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $143.72 and a 200 day moving average of $132.13.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.90%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’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 value of $17,561,522.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its position in Blackstone by 12,192.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $908,797,000 after purchasing an additional 7,281,128 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,766,875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546,886 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 19,048.1% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,883,409 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $247,423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,873,573 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,442,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290,324 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 213.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,375,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $170,345,000 after acquiring an additional 937,084 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.