Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $184.34 and last traded at $183.85, with a volume of 432279 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $181.56.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.63.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.32, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.02.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone 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 sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by 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.