Wells Fargo & Company Raises Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $188.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $169.00 to $188.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Blackstone from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.38.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.0 %

BX opened at $170.70 on Friday. Blackstone has a one year low of $88.59 and a one year high of $175.94. The company has a market capitalization of $121.99 billion, a PE ratio of 60.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $147.84 and its 200-day moving average is $133.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 7,281,128 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 7.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,766,875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546,886 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 19,048.1% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,883,409 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $247,423,000 after buying an additional 1,873,573 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,442,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290,324 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Blackstone by 213.5% during the second 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 last quarter. 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.