Brokerages Set Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Target Price at $172.38

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $172.38.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BX shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com lowered Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Blackstone from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of BX opened at $165.09 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $176.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $164.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $119.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.48, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.53. Blackstone has a 52 week low of $115.82 and a 52 week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone will post 5.88 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $1.44 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in Blackstone by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 5,994 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $918,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 5.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 40,876 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,259,000 after acquiring an additional 2,031 shares in the last quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth $455,000. LVW Advisors LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 3,183 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 317.0% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 5,362 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $821,000 after buying an additional 4,076 shares in the last quarter. 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.