Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Given New $169.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price objective lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $163.00 to $169.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Blackstone from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $149.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Blackstone from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America upped their target price on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $135.00.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.7 %

BX stock opened at $153.04 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $132.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Blackstone has a twelve month low of $88.59 and a twelve month high of $161.25.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.