Morgan Stanley Increases Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target to $145.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $145.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the asset manager’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 17.70% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on BX. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays upped their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $118.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.97.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $123.19 on Wednesday. Blackstone has a 1 year low of $79.92 and a 1 year high of $133.56. The company has a market cap of $88.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.32, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $126.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.64.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The asset manager reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.16. Blackstone had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 17.30%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.48 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.07 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total transaction of $6,268,570.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 393,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,294,783.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 232 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at $4,349,313. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total transaction of $6,268,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 393,143 shares in the company, valued at $50,294,783.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 86.2% in the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Advantage Trust Co acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.