Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Price Target Cut to $114.00

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) had its price target decreased by investment analysts at TD Cowen from $117.00 to $114.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the asset manager’s stock. TD Cowen’s target price suggests a potential downside of 3.93% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on BX. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $125.00 target price (down previously from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Oppenheimer downgraded Blackstone from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.92.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $1.66 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $118.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,247,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,700,955. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Blackstone has a one year low of $79.92 and a one year high of $133.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $126.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.66. The stock has a market cap of $84.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 17.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Blackstone will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Reginald J. Brown bought 2,400 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $125.62 per share, with a total value of $301,488.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 16,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,129,133.38. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,091,903 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,652,526,000 after buying an additional 14,396,655 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $510,355,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 96,256.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,790,996 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $429,634,000 after purchasing an additional 5,784,986 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 13,816.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,623,868 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,744,370,000 after buying an additional 3,597,828 shares during the period. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $290,514,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.