Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Raised to $135.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its target price lifted by research analysts at Argus from $133.00 to $135.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Argus’ price target suggests a potential upside of 9.30% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $116.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.65.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of BX traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $123.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,284,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,686,355. Blackstone has a 52-week low of $79.92 and a 52-week high of $133.56. The company’s 50-day moving average is $126.30 and its 200-day moving average is $118.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.73, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 232 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $127.08 per share, with a total value of $29,482.56. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at $4,349,313. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 232 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Reginald J. Brown purchased 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $125.62 per share, with a total value of $301,488.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 16,949 shares in the company, valued at $2,129,133.38. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 86.2% during the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 763.0% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.