Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Raised to $146.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $125.00 to $146.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on BX. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Piper Sandler downgraded Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group raised their price target on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.41.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $172.35 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $147.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.22. Blackstone has a 1-year low of $88.59 and a 1-year high of $175.94. The firm has a market cap of $123.17 billion, a PE ratio of 60.90, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.90%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director now 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter worth $27,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. 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.