Jefferies Financial Group Cuts Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $161.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its target price lowered by Jefferies Financial Group from $185.00 to $161.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 13th. HSBC decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $178.00 to $174.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $195.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.82.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $129.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $150.57 and a 200-day moving average of $158.46. Blackstone has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $190.09. The stock has a market cap of $95.90 billion, a PE ratio of 33.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.69 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a $1.49 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 153.61%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 385,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.96 per share, with a total value of $9,999,999.68. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 16,332,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $424,001,642.68. The trade was a 2.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,610. This represents a 99.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,394,670,000 after buying an additional 1,494,796 shares in the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 18,785 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,810,000 after purchasing an additional 3,281 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 346,318 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $58,337,000 after purchasing an additional 7,053 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 733.2% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 13,715 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,343,000 after buying an additional 12,069 shares during the period. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 259.8% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 22,160 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,315,000 after buying an additional 16,001 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.